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Politics, culture, bygone eras, personal stories… it all meshed and motivated Richard Phillipart to create two arresting looks for one of our best-loved Creative HEAD front cover stories back in 2018. This is two minutes of creative genius, and we’re still swooning.
A Creative HEAD shoot in partnership with BaByliss PRO
Hair: Richard Phillipart
Make-up: Cat Parnell
Fashion: Mekel Bailey
Videography: Sledge
Photography: Jon Baker
Production: The Creative Partnerships division at Creative HEAD
Shot on location in East London
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Custom lace front wig for the Met Gala 2022, with colour by Jason Hogan
Dearest readers… Whether you are a Bridgerton fanatic, a member of the Polin fandom or have never watched an episode at all, you’ve most probably come across Nicola Coughlan at some point in the past few years. From Derry Girls to Big Mood, she has a knack of creating ‘wow’ moments that love to go viral. That’s in part due to her role as Penelope Featheringtonin the Netflix hit Bridgerton, and also because she enjoys an exploratory sense of style that captures attention online and on social media.
One of the more misunderstood parts of my job is the ‘style journey’ as I like to call it, which myself and other glam team members craft through the unique partnership we create with our clients. Almost everybody has a personal sense of style but when one also has a public-facing life, there often isn’t time to take care of hair, make-up and wardrobe choices when carrying out duties that come with the role. That’s where professionals come in…
Going red for the Barbie premiere in London
Met Gala 2022
However, where it gets particularly exciting is when my clients want to go a step beyond the expected and craft a style iconography. I’ve worked with a breadth of talent over the years; many like to execute minimal changes to their personal style and have us perform only that, as best we know how for them. Then others want to push the boundaries of style, which for any creative is a form of pure joy. Nicola has always been someone with a love of style and the courage to be dynamic. We met – along with make-up artist Neil Young, stylist Aimee Croysdill and nail technician Michelle Class – on a photoshoot for Refinery29 in 2020. Nicola was already established thanks to her role in the hit show Derry Girls, and was due to appear in the debut season of Bridgerton. We had no idea how big that show would become nor the importance of the role of Penelope Featherington within the Bridgerton universe!
Halley Brisker
It often takes time to discover what our clients’ goals are when working with glam teams. In the nearly four years we’ve worked together as a team of creatives alongside Nicola, we’ve created looks that have incorporated extensive product knowledge – from the oily, sleek locks for the SAG Awards to textured, A-line bobs at The Baftas. Hair piece sourcing for faux bangs at front row shows for Miu Miu in Paris and braided hair bows for the Stylist magazine awards in London. We’ve experimented with colour too; Nicola went red for the Barbie premiere in London and with the custom-coloured lace front wig I created for Nicola at the 2022 Met Gala, Jason Hogan at Josh Wood Atelier painstakingly coloured it to complement a bespoke Richard Quinn dress.
Halley and the glam team at work behind the scenes
Stylist Magazine Awards, 2022
Throughout this incredible style journey we’ve gone on together, the thread that has been a relative constant has been Bridgerton, which has just launched its third season. That instalment sees Nicola’s character take centre stage in the plot, to become… nope, I’m not giving anything away!
It’s no coincidence that as looks go, the hair finish in New York was one of our most straightforward; sometimes we ‘grow as we go’. Of course, I have no idea what the future looks like for Bridgerton or Penelope, but to see hundreds of fans turn out for Nicola was a special moment and a perfect opportunity to create simple, elegant looks for this milestone moment.
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Located in the heart of London’s Old Street you’ll find new Grid Studios, specifically designed for hair and beauty creatives. It’s run by Danny Mendoza-Hall and Ben Ottewell, hair content creators par excellence… and they’ve even worked with Jordanna Cobella to access her in-depth knowledge of the industry to ensure it was spot-on for the modern stylist.
This 100 sq m-plus studio boasts 3.5m high ceilings, an outside courtyard and a banging coffee bar. There are six fully equipped styling stations and a backwash unit with 360-degree access, perfect for every angle when filming. Yes, you’ll find everything you would expect to see in any top salon, but it’s all the extra touches that the social media savvy stylist needs today that impresses. There’s a shower room for capturing wet looks and products, multiple backdrops, materials, polyboards and all the A/V equipment you could need to host events and education.
Plenty of natural light pours into the space, thanks to the 14m of south-facing windows. But the stand-out element might just be the custom-built lighting system. Hair creatives are always keen to show their work in the best light, and Grid Studio’s lighting system gives an even balanced daylight throughout the space. Its custom system automatically changes the colour temperature of the lighting to match the colour temperature of the daylight, so wherever you are in the space, the lighting and colour is perfect. The lights in the mirrors also change temperature! “We have put this lighting system in place so you can just turn up and shoot without the need to rent additional equipment, meaning you can significantly cut down on the costs of creating high-end content,” says Danny.
There’s also an own in-house production team – Grid Productions – that’s been creating hair content for years, working with some of the industry’s biggest brands. “Our goal was to make high-end content creation accessible both to brands and to hairdressers and beauty professionals,” he adds.
What’s on offer? First, there’s single chair rental, which works in a similar way to a freelance salon – you can rent a chair for the day, bring in your models and use the lighting, equipment and shoot area to create content. Alternatively, the entire studio is available to rent – that comes with all six stations, the backwash and the shoot area, just right for creating branded content and campaigns.
“We created this space to solve the problems we come up against when shooting both in salons and in studios,” says Danny. “Salons often don’t have the ceiling height, they have mismatched lighting, and are busy and noisy. We usually need to bring in loads of additional lighting, and shoot in cramped conditions. Studios don’t generally have styling stations or backwashes, which means you can’t properly capture the creation process. Again, you still need to bring in additional lighting, which is very expensive, making it unachievable for your average freelancer.”
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Home-made jumbo setting pins, smooth moves, and a watchful eye – respect the technique, as Lauren Bell aces rick-rack texture for The Coterie: In Session crowd back in 2021.
A Creative HEAD event in partnership with BaByliss PRO, hosted by journalist and broadcaster, Ateh Jewel.
Hair: Lauren Bell
Make-up: Tricia Woolston
Fashion: Issie Gibbons
Model: Nirvana Proag @ First Management
Video and production: Sledge
Photography: Harvey Williams-Fairley
Venue: Jet Studios
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Frederic Aspiras
Lady Gaga’s stylist, the Oscar-nominated Frederic Aspiras, is looking to “foster an inclusive space that celebrates individuality and creativity” in a new global role with iconic hair brand Sebastian Professional.
He’s the new global creative & culture director, and will have an eye on merging talent and “sparking a global movement of self-expression” through hair and culture.
Across a two-decade career, Aspiras has become known as something of a visionary trailblazer in the world of hairdressing, particularly through his wig making and his long working relationship with Lady Gaga. Since 2009, he’s formed part of her Haus of Gaga styling collective, working on red carpet styles, stage looks and even film work as she broadens her career in movies. In 2022, he was nominated for an Academy Award in the
category Best Make-up and Hairstyling for the film House of Gucci.
The appointment is another reason for Sebastian Professional to celebrate, having marked its 50th anniversary celebration last year.
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