Headway Winter Vol38 No2

potential outcomes the designer is looking for.

Let’s go back to the song analogy. A good song is a good song with or without a rhythm section; a good collection is a good collection with or without hair. Too much crazy drumming and slap bass can ruin a song if it’s not the right fit, no matter how good the drummer licks are. Too much focus on the hair can detract from a runway show if it’s not the right collection for it. On the other hand, weak or poorly executed drums and bass can ruin a song much like poorly executed hair or the wrong choice of style can change the character of a runway show.

So let’s think about our role at Fashion Week as the rhythm section: perfectly chiming in with accents and high notes where it’s needed to bring a collection to life and subtly supporting and lifting up a strong collection to add beauty and dynamism to it...we can have a wonderful experience.

When working on Fashion Week, we always need to remember it’s not a hair show, it’s a fashion show. It’s all about the clothes, and it’s an opportunity (a very expensive one) for designers to reach new audiences and buyers for their ranges and to grow their business. Therefore, it’s imperative we remember our role as a support to the designers.

We can learn a lot of valuable skills that translate to the salon by working Fashion Week...

• HOW TO DELIVER ON BRIEF on time with no hold-ups. The show has to go on when the show is scheduled to go on. Ready or not! How good would it be to find ways to get your appointment schedule back on track and on time and never keep clients waiting more than a couple of minutes?

• UNDERSTANDING CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY and how easily hair can change it.

This is a vital piece of understanding for any successful salon stylist. Being able to quickly identify a person’s character or personal style allows you to create new looks to suit them and their lifestyle because you understand them, their individual personal style and how they see themselves. Nail this and you will quickly become a sought-after stylist with the love and trust of your clients.

• CONSISTENTLY REPLICATING A LOOK is a great skill to master. How many of you struggle with a client that loved her last haircut and wants it exactly the same, when it's been six or eight weeks and you’ve done about 800 haircuts since that perfect one she loved! Working Fashion Week can help you find your moves, your style, your inner-groove.

• BEST OF ALL working Fashion Week gives you an insight into emerging trends and techniques and will put you ahead of the game for your clients. It gives you something exciting and interesting to talk to them about and makes them feel like they are connected to the elite fashion leader of their community.

With Australian Fashion Week celebrating twenty years this year and NZ Fashion Week hitting the fifteen year milestone, I’m excited to see the strength of New Zealand fashion and the growth of our presence on the international stage. Same goes for the hair.

Just like a great rhythm section in a song, if the front row audience doesn’t notice the hair, then you’ve probably done a great job….

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