A couple who met through ‘doing dreads’ have combined forces to style dreadlocks for clients from across the world.

Elise Robinson, 31, moved to Stowmarket last year to live with her partner Gareth Buxton, 37, who has been creating dreads for more than 15 years.

With a mutual interest in dreadlocks and hair styling, Elise joined Gareth’s company, Dawn of The Dread UK, which has seen customers from as far as Denmark come to visit for the niche hair appointments.

Elise said: “We both met doing dreads and I had been doing it for about nine years – so we met through doing that.

“I started doing it for my friends and family and then started following other dread businesses online and that’s how I came across Gareth.

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“It’s quite a niche thing to do – not loads of people do it, but that really started my passion for being self-employed.”

The duo host clients from their ‘dread cabin’ – a wooden hairstyling studio of professional equipment and quirky decor.

Gareth explained that people who want the look must have at least six inches of hair and a method known as brickwork sectioning is used to space out where each dread is going to sit.

Backcombing the hair and using either a 0.4 or 0.5 crochet hook is used to create lots of small knots for each lock of hair.

The dreads are then tidied up every three to four months through pulling all the loose hair in and then after six months to a year the dreadlocks will start to mature.

“You need to get your dreads maintained and wash them once a week,” Elise said while discussing common misconceptions about dreadlocks, adding: “People think those with dreads don’t wash their hair at all – or even wash themselves – or that you must smoke a lot of weed or whatever.

“I just really enjoy doing it and it’s such a nice feeling to give someone a look they’ve wanted for years.

“It’s a real transformation for them and it’s like you’ve created something new for someone to enjoy.”

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The business has continued to grow over the years and Elise and Gareth are looking to attend festivals in the future with stalls offering dreadlock accessories, extensions and merchandise.

For more information on Dawn of The Dread UK, you can click here to follow the business on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Alongside the dreadlock business, Elise also works as a support worker and has started her own cleaning business in Stowmarket and is hoping to serve more clients going forward.

She is available for weekly, fortnightly and one-off cleaning jobs and says she enjoys meeting new people in the town.

To get in touch about Elise’s Cleaning Services, click here.

She said: “I really like Stowmarket as a place and everyone seems really helpful to each other.

“In particular one of my cleaning clients has leant me a bike to help me get around easier, which is really nice.

“It’s easy to get to know people and everyone is really friendly – there’s a lot of community activities happening in Stowmarket and I think it’s a lovely place to live.”