Francesca Allen, Plaukai

Once a year, hundreds of women with thousands of feet of hair flood into a Lithuanian arena for the World’s Longest Hair competition, a folkloric beauty pageant where obsession, tradition, and identity converge.

Drawn to the surreal spectacle, British photographer Francesca Allen traveled to the event, known locally as Konkursas Pasaulio Ilgaplaukes, with a Lithuanian friend to document the competition firsthand.

Her resulting series, Plaukai (Lithuanian for “hair”), captures some of the nearly 200 participants—from young girls with untouched locks, to older women whose hair pools at their feet—as they walk the runway, get measured by gloved judges and take part in a ritualistic finale that must be seen to be believed.

Plaukai will be exhibited on June 18, 2025 in London, with a limited-run publication designed by Adam Ridgeway. The work features a text by Frankie Dunn exploring the emotional, cultural, and generational significance of long hair in 2025.