Antonia says she saw a gap in the market when she was surrounded by “terrible” wigs while working in TV and film, including in the ITV series Bad Girls two decades ago.
“Women wanted natural-looking wigs and they just weren’t available. They looked like helmets!”
Antonia set up a Facebook page and began advertising on Gumtree. “I had very limited resources. I didn’t have any investors behind me. I come from very humble beginnings.”
Her experience dealing with MS has helped her success, she says. Antonia lost her hair when she underwent chemotherapy following a bone marrow transplant, so she knows what it is like to be “completely bald”.
This made her relate more deeply to her customers, she explains, as she understands the loss of control some women feel when they lose their hair.
“I didn’t feel like myself,” she says, “but being able to put on a wig that looks something close to how your hair was, or the look you used to have, it’s as though you can feel like yourself again.”
When she sees a woman put a wig on and her “whole face lights up”, it can be “very, very rewarding”.
“When we feel good about ourselves…we’re more confident, we can achieve more. I felt like I was changing the world, one person at a time.”
