We introduce a topological object, called hairy Cantor set, which in many ways enjoys the universal features of objects like Jordan curve, Cantor set, Cantor bouquet, hairy Jordan curve, etc. We give an axiomatic characterisation of hairy Cantor sets, and prove that any two such objects in the plane are ambiently homeomorphic.

Hairy Cantor sets appear in the study of the dynamics of holomorphic maps with infinitely many renormalisation structures. They are employed to link the fundamental concepts of polynomial-like renormalisation by Douady-Hubbard with the arithmetic conditions obtained by Herman-Yoccoz in the study of the dynamics of analytic circle diffeomorphisms.