PROFILE
Image by Santiago Franco Shicke
GARY GILL A modern trailblazer
The acclaimed session stylist may occasionally reference his troubled past in his work, but the results are always spectacularly forward-thinking HAIR AND MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY GARY GILL Gary Gill attributes his irreverent approach to hairstyling to the years he spent as a teenager in Brighton’s punk community. His work is artistic, sculptural and anti-establishment, stamped with the codes of counter-culture he was obsessed with while growing up. His aesthetic has been called anti-glamour (he particularly loves that description). Relatively late in life, the former salon owner and Wella educator has reached an elite level in the world of session styling that only a select few ever achieve. He is called upon to generate looks for Balenciaga, Y Project, Dries Van Noten, Acne Studios, Martine Rose, Diesel and plenty of other labels seeking to balance their collections with his signature clean, artful styling. In 2019 he was voted into the BoF 500, a global index of handselected professionals shaping the fashion industry.
40
040-049_Gary Gill.indd 1
But what’s equally impressive – and possibly also a large part of the reason for his success – is his meticulous approach to work, his calm demeanour and his kindness to others. “How to work with people and how to be within large groups of people I learned the most from my mum, who was a hairdresser herself,” he says. “She was a really good teacher but only later in life I realised what a great mentor she was. From being a young, arrogant hairdresser who thought he knew it all, I became a mature person within the industry. She always used to say that 90 per cent of success is having a good attitude. It was the most valuable lesson for me in how to get on in the industry. At hairdressing events people would always say, “Hi Gary, how is your mum?” It’s made me realise how good she was with people and how important that is.”
CREATIVE HEAD
19/12/2023 15:10