François joins Halo bringing decades of professional experience to the development of HaloBraid, Halo’s braid assist technology for stylists.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Halo, a technology company creating category-defining technology for textured hair, announced today that acclaimed celebrity hairstylist, educator, and founder Vernon François is joining Halo as an expert advisor and the company’s first Creative Engineer.

François joins Halo as the company brings HaloBraid, the world’s first braid assist device for professional stylists, to market. HaloBraid helps stylists complete braids quickly, consistently, and gently. A stylist has full creative control: they start each braid by hand, and HaloBraid finishes it up to five times faster while matching their braid style. François, one of the world’s foremost experts in Afro hair, is working directly with Halo’s engineers to shape the device.

François brings more than three decades of professional experience working with all hair textures and an intimate understanding of hair and its important role in everyday life. His career has taken him around the world, working with notable figures including Lupita Nyong’o, Halle Bailey, Iman, Serena Williams, Solange Knowles, Teyana Taylor, Venus Williams, and Willow Smith. François has also collaborated with leading beauty companies across product innovation, education, creative direction, and storytelling. He brings this combination of hands-on styling expertise, product development, and creative insight to his role at Halo.

François says, “As a self-taught hair artist, my relationship with hair began long before it turned into my profession. Within my Rastafarian upbringing, hair carried meaning: identity, ritual, expression, resistance, and belonging. I started doing locs, twists and braids at age 8, entered the professional industry at 14, and hair has remained at the center of my curiosity ever since.

With Halo, I’m entering a conversation between two disciplines, hair artistry and engineering. My mission as Creative Engineer is to bring decades of lived knowledge into the engineering process: to question, test, challenge, and explore where technology can remove unnecessary limitations while protecting the judgment, dexterity, and creativity that make hairdressing profoundly human. Meaningful innovation should not distance us from the craft; it should give the craft greater possibility.”

François is collaborating directly with Halo’s engineering team, testing HaloBraid and lending his expertise and excitement to a development process that has been shaped by stylists from the beginning. He brings a critical voice on the realities of being a stylist, the salon environment, and working across different hair textures, to inform product functionality and professional workflow as well as the experience and storytelling surrounding the technology.

“We’re thrilled to work in close collaboration with Vernon. We’re grateful for his support of Halo and are deeply inspired by his work and legacy in the rich history of braiding. He understands this craft at the highest level and its potential with HaloBraid. Vernon’s role as Creative Engineer helps ensure our technology honors the expertise of the professional stylist and prioritizes the needs and dreams of the client. We have a shared mission of celebrating the complexities, artistry, and beauty of all hair textures,” says Yinka Ogunbiyi, CEO of Halo.

About Vernon François

Vernon François is a celebrity hairstylist, educator and brand founder with more than three decades of experience and a lifelong passion for hair, particularly Afro and curly textures. He is the founder of the award-winning VERNON FRANÇOIS® Haircare line, the first Creative Engineer at Halo, a Global Brand Ambassador for OLAPLEX and an educator with the Ulta Beauty Artist Collective. His career spans celebrity styling, product development and education, with clients including Allyson Felix, Dame Kelly Holmes, Doja Cat, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Iman, Lianne La Havas, Lupita Nyong’o, Serena Williams, Solange Knowles, and many more. An award-winning hair artist, his work has been featured in Vogue, Allure, Vanity Fair, Glamour and other leading publications.

About Halo

Halo is a technology company building the future of haircare for all textures through exceptional engineering and human-centered design. The company creates category-defining products built for the complexities others overlook. Its first product, HaloBraid, is a braid assist device that helps stylists complete braids faster. The patent-pending innovation launches later this year. Backed by leading investors including Seven Seven Six, AlleyCorp, and Bling Capital, Halo is a group of technologists creating a new era of innovation in hair technology. To learn more, visit www.halobraid.com.

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SOURCE Halo