The hairpieces, which are designed for babies up to nine months old, are copies of celebrity hair styles. Currently available is a curly black afro, as seen on Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction; a head-full of Bob Marley dreadlocks (complete with hat); and a Donald Trump comb-over, for aspiring entrepreneurs. For the girls, there's a wig of flowing pink locks a la singer Lil' Kim. And apparently, more hairdos are coming soon.

The founder of the Baby Toupee company, Graham Farrar (who refers to himself as the company 'Big Wig'), says that the hairpieces are meant as fun accessories, rather than serious attempts to disguise a baby's baldness.

"Having a baby doesn't mean you have to stop having fun or do everything by the book, " he said. "At BabyToupee, we don't take ourselves or our products too seriously. In fact, Baby Toupees are just the first of many fun products designed to give that special baby a little extra personality and to ensure that parents retain theirs - along with a sense of humour. However, neglected children are no laughing matter, and for this reason we donate 10% of all proceeds to children's charities."

The popularity of the toupees among LA clients in particular has led many internet blog sites to suggest that Tom Cruise may well be the most famous customer of the Baby Toupee company. The actor's baby daughter, Suri, recently received international attention after the first published photograph of her revealed a shock of thick black hair more befitting a much older child. It is unknown whether 'The Suri' will go into production any time soon.

The baby toupees have already crossed the Atlantic to the UK, where they are available for sale online at www. babywigs. co. uk.