I'm not giving up on my work. I'm still trying to challenge people's aesthetics and myself.
I'm not saying that everything I do is always tasteful - and maybe it's not always the normal idea of beauty - but hopefully it's always an empowering idea.
Beauty shouldn't be taken too seriously. Life is stressful enough! Hair should be creative and crazy.
To be a good hairdresser, you have to understand what the vision is of the designer or the photographer and then sort of add your thing.
I didn't know I wanted to be a hairdresser. I was always interested in fashion and imagery in a very naive way, but it was always an attraction, like glitter balls.
I like hair that's been 'worn in' because it's much easier to deal with.... I actually don't like it when [models] come in with this beautiful, thick, glossy hair. I think, Oh, no! I can't do a thing with this!
It's hard to be shocking now. It's hard to challenge people because the Internet has allowed everyone to become much more worldly, much more visual. It's very hard to surprise people.
I worked at a bunch of salons, and at one, a girl was going out to do a photo shoot for a women's magazine and brought me along to assist her. I remember going on that shoot and thinking, "God, this is great. It's creative, and you get to work with all of these other creative people." At that point I decided that hair would be my in to fashion and all the things I thought I would enjoy - and did enjoy.
Fashion is emotional, and the way women look at it is emotional, so it's very important to try to connect with a woman's idea of how she might feel.
When I think of the people I've worked with, all of them have great passion, and the passion is what keeps people inspired.
All hair is away from the face - there's no emotion and all of the personality is taken away. I envisioned the way a 'virtual girl' is drawn in a cartoon. Then I added these different colored extensions - white, red and black, which adds to the synthetic feeling of the hair. I used colors which looked most dramatic against each of the models' real hair. The different colors give you that pop of fakeness so we're not talking about reality. Like a futuristic princess.
When you respect somebody who has talent, whether it's a designer or a photographer, then you don't want to let yourself down - but you also really don't want to let them down.
Beautiful things are different.
I used to get defensive and react. Like you, I get pushed and pulled [backstage].... Sometimes people are rude to me, and I feel like, 'You know, guys, I'm just here trying to do my job....' And the reality is, everyone else is just trying to do their job...and sometimes they get on a power trip [and] you feel disrespected. But that's their problem. It's not my problem.
I try to be aware of technology and Japanese animation and old Belgian paintings, and get all my references from bits of everywhere.
Suddenly it was cool to have your hair lank . . . It was a whole different way of looking at things, and it shook up the whole industry.
The Brits always favor the underdog. There's an eccentricity to us, and I think you can see that through the fash- ion and the music and the way people look.
I wasn't as confident and creative in the beginning as I am now, so it was all very safe. But I was building my work, and it took me a long time. For a good five or six years I was just kind of bobbing around, doing everything and anything.
I worked in salons, where you do learn the basic sort of thing. But I didn't know anything about the kinds of things I'm doing now. I learned how to put hot-rollers in.
I worked at a bunch of other salons, and at one, this girl was going out to do a photo shoot for a women's magazine and brought me along to assist her. I remember going on that shoot and thinking, "God, this is great. It's creative, and you get to work with all of these other creative people." At that point I decided that hair would be my in to fashion and all the things I thought I would enjoy - and did enjoy.
I was building my work, and it took me a long time. For a good five or six years I was just kind of bobbing around, doing everything and anything.
I got into hairdressing and moved from Dorset to London, where I got an apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon. This was around '83 or '84. I was working on South Molton Street, which was then the epicenter of all the shops. It was like a catwalk. So I did my apprenticeship there, but I wasn't successful.
I think it's more funny how every bit of information is up for grabs.
Someone might say that's a naïve way of looking at things now, and I would respect their opinion, but I also respect every woman's right to wearing her own individual style, including hair.
I think now because of this whole social media thing, people obviously felt these things [about cultural appropriation] before, and they comment on everything.
