90. Ara Gallant. Hairdressing Hall Of Fame.

Twiggy- flying hair.

Ok, so you watched the video on the previous post called "flying hair" now you can see where the idea came from.

Ara Gallant was born Ira Gallantz in 1932 in the Bronx, but later changed his name because he felt Ara Gallant sounded more exotic. And the life he led was, indeed, an exotic one. Gallant started his career in fashion as a hairdresser, working at Bergdorf Goodman as one of New York’s top colorists. By the mid-1960s he was approached by Vogue and began working exclusively as hair-stylist on photo assignments. In fact, he was the first hair stylist to be paid for such work. Today we call that a "session hair stylist".

Gallant worked with many of the great fashion photographers of the period, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Bert Stern, among them. His most notable contribution was the introduction "flying hair" a visual gimmick he first used on an Avedon shot with Twiggy in 1966. The effect is still widely copied today.

Angelika houston

Sophia Loren

By the early 1970s Gallant began shooting picture himself. His first assignment was celebrity portraits for Interview magazine. His work often juxtaposed classic Horst-like compositions with contemporary scenarios. In the early 1980s Gallant moved to L.A. to lead with his friend Jack Nicholson and to pursue a directing career. It never happened, in the 1990's he committed suicide in a hotel room in Las Vegas.

Sissy Spacek

Drew Barrymoore

Ara Gallant

Buy this book. Ara Gallant by David Wills.

75. OOH LA LA. BEST HAIR AT PARIS SPRING FASHION WEEK 2011.

For regular readers of Heads Will Roll will know that I love a little bit of hair braiding, so you will not be surprised to hear that my pick of Best hair at Paris Spring fashion week 2011 goes to Guido Palau for Alexander McQueen.

And here’s what Guido said “: “There’s a nod to paganism…and the idea of getting back to nature,” said Guido Palau of his basket-woven hairpieces, which looked like the sewn-together husks of one’s childhood cornhusk dolls. “There are a lot of artisanal straw elements in the dresses and collars,” he added, explaining the look”.

And also...

Also special mention goes to Orlando Pit for his inspiring homage to Bettie Page. It’s such a simple idea but so well executed. Makes me want to invest in some clip on bangs.

And lastly...

And lastly, to the model with the most drastic hair change Carmen Kass pictured above. Her big chop came just before the Balmain show by one of my favourite hairstylist Sam McKnight. But wait there’s more, then she had Guido colour her red just before the Louis Vuitton show.

To read more of my hair reviews of other fashions weeks click here.

73. BIG BANG THEORY.

I’m seeing loads of these big retro fringes (or big bangs if you like) around at the moment and I have a theory, that this kind of particular fringe seems to have it’s roots in late 60s perhaps early 70s. Hear me out, all of the Rollingstone girlfriends had them —Marianne Faithfull (pictured above), Anita Pallenberg, Pattie Boyd—had those big fringes with mystic rock cred. In France, très chic singers such as Jane Birkin and Françoise Hardy peered out from beneath deep heavy cut brunette bangs, forever imbuing the style with a touch of je ne sais quoi.

Now back in the 21^st century it seems actress Zooey Deschanel and Anne Hathaway are paying tribute to a bygone era. So to models Freya Beha Erichsen, Jamie bochert, Lou doillion and Irina Lazareanu. The photo below of Abbet lee Kershaw is a dead-ringer for Marianne Faithful.

Quick history of the fringe or bangs.

The “invention” of bangs as a women’s hairstyle is generally credited to a musician/hairstylist named Ziryab from Spain in the ninth century and introduced a wildly popular short-in-the-front, long-at-the-sides coiffure.

And so it began with a bang, not a whimper. Why do they call it bangs?

Pictured above Marianne Fathful, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Paty Boyd. Natasha Khan, Irina Lazareanu, Jane Birkin, Françoise Hardy, Chan Marshal (Cat Power), Anne Hathaway and Zooey Deschanel.

Part 2 Interview with Nina Butkovich-Budden

Originally written for The Hub Magazine. This is part 2 of my interview with Nina, part one can be found here.

One of London’s busiest hairstylists right now, Nina Butkovich-Budden took some time out of her busy schedule to talk to Jean-Paul about Mark Mitanovski’s antlers,Lady Gaga and veterinarian surgery.

Let’s talk about Nina’s Hair Parlour… how did that come about?

I was always interested in bygone eras, and through overdosing on Marlene Dietrich and Jayne Mansfield films I realized I couldn’t find a hairdresser to recreate the perfect 1930’s or 1950’s hair do. I searched high and low and nothing was available. Working as a period style consultant for the Young Vic Theatre at the time I definitely spotted a gap in the market. Around the same time the first burlesque club night opened in London. My dear friend – and owner of the famous “The Girl Can’t Help It” – Sparkle Moore started it all and following her lead several new clubs started appearing catering to vintage aficionados. At first I started working on my friends, then upcoming performers and as the circle widened more and more people searched after a fabulous vintage do! One of my ultimate inspirations was a guy who taught Vidal Sassoon his trade, hair coiffure impresario Raymond of Mayfair. He owned shops all over London in the 1950’s and I thought why not, it’s a good idea so let me follow in his footsteps!

The first Hair Parlour was set within walls of someone else’s salon in Waterloo, soon after the demand was so huge that I had to find staff and move somewhere bigger and more appropriate. I met Issidora our fabulous make-up artist, and suggested she join me on this venture and upon a friend’s suggestion we approached Alfies’ Antique Market in Marylebone, and they took a chance on us. Our top stylist Leila Mauro moved from Brussels to join us, Mark McCarthy took on the barbering and Sami Knight is our creative force. We have a superb team! We specialize in styles from 16th century until the 1980’s with a splash of avant-garde.

I love the history of our shared craft, particularly retro 1950’s hair, and the art and craft of dressing hair for both men and women. Do you think modern hairstylists are loosing touch with their roots (no pun intended)?

Absolutely! Hairdressing is a multimillion pound industry and it’s all about quantity of clients and quick turnover. I’ve previously worked as a salon manager before and it was 30 minutes per client… needless to say, I hated it! Vintage hair do’s take time to create and herein lies the experience itself… it can’t be rushed and has to be researched if you are to create something truly authentic. I am a rebel and the idea of lots of money and creating a chain is not my ultimate stimulant. I decided long ago to keep myself out of the corporate world so small, exquisite boutique style business is my aim. Quality and individuality over mass marketing and high street!

Nina’s Hair Parlour has Retro hair classes for civilians and professional hairdressers. What made you decide to do this?

Well, I thought there was no fun in having your hair done in a period style and then not knowing how to recreate it at home, so we do one- to-one classes for our clients and show them how to do three different styles. Now, they can look fantastic all the time. We still haven’t started the professional classes, we are pretty small and I am über busy so it’s very hard to organize classes at the moment. The team and I are going to sort that out very soon though!

What do you do in you spare time?

Brainstorm!!! I love what I do and cannot stop ideas pouring in, so I sketch a lot and it drives everyone mad!

In our last correspondence you mentioned you were off to Malaysia, was that for work or fun?

We were presenting Marko’s collection on STYLO (Stylo Fashion Grand Prix Kuala Lumpur 2010) in Kuala Lumpur and Issidora – my partner in crime – and I had a special appearance on their Hair Couture Show…loads of work but we had fun too.

What are you working on at the moment?

I have loads of shows planned with Marko, preparing for September’s Fashion Weeks and working on the new Stella Artois ads, Mad Men DVD launch and millions of photo shoots and editorials…. busy busy Nina!

And your plans for the future?

To do more shows and hopefully, buy a 1950’s Airstream, convert it in the hair salon and travel around States….like Nina The Queen of the Desert hahaha!