The Repair Shop: Celebrating Mandeville’s Heritage Crafts People

As master wigmakers since 1969, we love our craft and feel honoured to bear the responsibility of continuing our traditional practices within the modern world. Where machines and AI threaten to remove the soul and skill from every industry, we still believe handmade is best - and so do our thousands of clients!

Thrilled with any opportunity to shine a light on the art of wig making, we’re excited to announce our feature on The Repair Shop: On the Road, a programme dedicated to showcasing rare, traditional crafts around the UK and the specialist craftspeople still using these techniques today.

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We were joined by The Repair Shop’s Will Kirk, furniture restorer and woodworker who set out to understand the creation of a Mandeville wig from start to finish. After a consultation and template-making session with our wonderful consultant Caroline, Will was sent to company director and foundation maker Janet for a lesson in lace moulding and whipping (find out what whipping is on the show)! After trying his hand at foundation-making, Will was introduced to Brenda, our head-knotter who showed him how hair is added to the foundation using the traditional hand-knotting technique. Once Will had mostly got the hang of knotting hair, he tried on several Mandeville wigs to understand their transformative power!

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It was our pleasure to host Will and the rest of the crew at our studios for the day. Watch the episode for a peek behind the scenes of wig manufacture at Mandeville and the people keeping this much needed craft alive and well.

Find The Repair Shop: On the Road, Season 2 - Buckinghamshire here to see our team, alongside other talented crafters in action.