SS 2016 Fashion. Hair Un-Styling. Is it For You...
It has become quite clear that the new “cool girl” has zero shame about allowing her “wakeup hair” to be quickly coiffed with a touch a dry shampoo and a good brushing.
Hair Un-Styling. Is It For You?
From the Director's Chair.
Benjamin Rodich. National Artistic Director for Hair. WarPaint International Beauty Agency.
Diving into Spring / Summer Fashion Week 2016
It has become quite clear that the new “cool girl” has zero shame about allowing her “wakeup hair” to be quickly coiffed with a touch a dry shampoo and a good brushing. While last year we saw beach waves and the return of texture in a daring way, we are now saying “ it is what it is.”
Here in the Midwest, the return of the winter's moisture-free air and subzero temperatures, promises a season of highly annoying split ends, endless static, and dull hair. I recently drowned myself in Harpers Bazaar (The Best Beauty Looks for NYFW Spring 2016) for days, and I can say that I am thankful for the newest trend that is coming about for SS2016. While you will always appreciate the magical blowout that your stylist gives you, it will only last a few days at most for many. The stress on your hair from the water, heat and dry air is extreme. What can you do?
Enter Hair Un-styling
If I may... a thought about the marriage of makeup and hair. I believe beauty can be simple and complex all in the same space. Power braids, center parts, deep side parts, bangs...
As a hairdresser, I strive to understand the intention of someone’s style through his or her lens. I love the lady that wears the reddest lip she owns as she sits in my chair. In years past I would have been so excited to give her that show-stopping old Hollywood glam marcel wave. I look at her differently now. Her red lip tells me secretly “don’t hide me”.
While curating our SS2016 trend collection, we are striving to create a portfolio of looks that help the modern day women to be better understood by truly building a relationship between her hair and makeup. This collection, with countless hours of collaboration with the most talented artists in the country, will be thoughtful, beautiful, unique, and approachable.
“How Many Days Until New York Fashion Week??”
When it comes to your hair right now, less could definitely be more. In a recent blog post I wrote of the vulnerability, that if we choose it, can transport us to a time where we didn’t have the skill to blow dry our hair with a round brush or create the soft waves with our curling wand we love so much. At that time we did what we knew how to do, maybe a simple braid, or lots of ponytails. If you look at the last walk of Valentino you will see just that.
Valentino | Spring Summer 2016 by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli | Full Fashion Show in High Definition. (Widescreen - Exclusive Video - PFW/Paris Fashion Week)
An octagon pattern of twists was the hi-lite of those heads of hair as they pounded down the runway. The “power braids” that are coming back into trend are exposing and fierce. The “Warrior Woman” of today has a bigger goal for the day than an hour of styling. She is strong and has zero time for anything that keeps her from the battles she faces each day.
Jason Wu Red Lip SS 2015
Interestingly enough, she passes by a different woman also in high trend right now. This power girl has an earthy and mossy look to her hair. Mostly air-dried with a touch of hair oil she throws her Mason Pearson brush in her purse and away she goes. Not curly, not strait, not wavy, just…her. The raw natural essence of her spirit; her hair is what it wants to be, undone. Un-heated, not pulled, not fastened, not pinned. Parted and ..pardon me…that’s it. Her lip, a velvet matte red like seen in Jason WU SS2015.
This is what I mean by complex and simple. We can now wonder, where is she going? I can’t help but think, how freeing it must feel to let go of what we know and just wash and condition with beautiful product, apply a small amount of precious hair oil and a red lip, maybe a touch of tinted moisturizer and head out the door to the catwalk streets of your city. Aha, a trend has been born because we decided to be vulnerable and “un-dress” our hair.
“If its already hit the runway, can I pull this off ?”
How can we inspire you?
Our talented and highly professional artisans can be your compass to selecting the right shades and consulting on whether you will undress your hair, your makeup, or both. For those who still live in the WarPaint world of (and I have to use a line from Local designer Julia Moss) “ Full wattage” hair and makeup - we are still here for you. Natural and elegant , or painted and glam, we are your artists. We are your beauty on demand.
With that, remember… Life is a stage, are you prepared?
New York Fashion Week is February 10 - 16, 2016. Catch up on NYFW HERE.
Hair & Makeup Inspirations from NYFW 2016.
Lets go into the home of the woman whom, unlike fashion designers, doesn’t have a hair and makeup team at her disposal, for their models strutting the runway. She wonders, “ How will I show up and look on trend?” “ How will I belong?”
Beauty by Intuition. Hair & Makeup Inspiration from NYFW Spring / Summer 2016
From the Director's Chair
The streets of New York City were alive this year as the runways were rolled out. Champagne was toasted and the designers of our industry sent their blood sweat and tears down the runway at New York Fashion Week Spring / Summer 2016. For a year, designers tirelessly work, and in 3 hours from the beginning of hair and makeup to the final walk, it’s over.
Photo Credit: NYFW.com
Looking on Trend
It would be logical to think that this season’s hottest hairstyle looks would be walking down the runway in full force. I would like to take you on a different journey this year... Lets go into the home of the woman whom, unlike fashion designers, doesn’t have a hair and makeup team at her disposal, for their models strutting the runway. She wonders, “ How will I show up and look on trend?” “ How will I belong?”
I speak of this woman figuratively as I saw her walking into shows all around the city either alone with her first ticket in her life to watch a show at Fashion Week, or as a guest of a well-seasoned fashion week goer. There is a word that inspires me greatly this month that we all use at some point throughout the day in our practice(s). Intuition.
• in·tu·i·tion
What does it mean? Through a quick search on the internet, Google dictionary defines it as the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. I believe that the way we do our hair each day is intuitive. We just do it, the way we know how and they way that makes us feel the best. Vulnerability does not have a seat at the table in daily styling for most, nor are we willing to take a risk most often when we are surrounded by people we know. Some of us would never dream of leaving the house with a topknot or a center part. Some of us cover our forehead with a strong fringe and some of us live for our long layered tresses that gently flow down our neck and wave with wind on the city streets where we conquer the world each day.
Sharing a #fringe #ootd and the secret of how to get invited to #NYFW on the blog today! 💃🏻 http://t.co/hMu876CEOy pic.twitter.com/z9JrDtzYCw
— Closet Luxe (@closet_luxe) September 28, 2015Your inspiration comes alive
During New York Fashion Week, the narrative changes and something so beautiful happens. Without asking, vulnerability knocks at the door, comes into the vanity and takes over. I can see the new-found confidence if only for the day, in the eyes of the women who power walk the streets of New York City. Some may keep their low casual pony, yet adorn it with a large bow or tie a scarf around it, while others take it to a new level. I saw bangs so fresh and free they were cut that morning with the sharpest scissors in the house. There was no care of too long or short, just an impulse to be alive and bold. It is in this moment that a “ Trend” becomes personal, private, and rebellious.
It is within this space that an artistic expression of our inner self is born. As you are going to the salon wondering “What do I tell my stylist today?” Ask yourself, what would you attempt to do if you realized that you just get one lifetime. Each time you cut your hair is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to extract the excitement and passion that your stylist has for their craft and wear it proudly and without shame. It is a commitment to not taking the path of least resistance and commanding growth and boldness from your soul. It is engaging in a deep and intimate relationship with vulnerability, and when this happens, life happens in a way you cannot imagine until you are there.
At WarPaint International beauty agency, we strive to help create a menu of options. Many of these options cater to helping you revisit your daily hairstyle and makeup regime in a new way. Others, challenge you to invite that unknown, "that vulnerability", into your home and take you on a journey back to childhood when your friend came over to play dress up. Where you put the most intense Red Lipstick on and as much color as you could fit on your eyelid. And after as many ponytails as your could tie your hair into were tied, you then sat and stared in your vanity mirror inspired and excited by what looked back at you. Maybe for the afternoon you were the princess you read about in your story books, or maybe you were the confident grown up you couldn’t wait to be one day. Whatever the case, you had no understanding of limits and no fear of what others would say. You only knew that this was exciting and bold and brought you to a frame of mind where imagination and pure joy took the wheel. This space is, for a hairdresser and a makeup artist, a playground.
Your Challenge
I would like to invite all of you in the months to come, to remember that you DO have a Hair and Makeup Team at your disposal. I ask you to challenge us here at WarPaint International Beauty Agency, to help you extract the inner child in you. Lets play with makeup and hair like you once did and make it work for the life you live now. Whether your look is polished and refined, or deconstructed and free flowing, we are here to help you make choices as to how to live in the beyond of beauty. A space where inspiration flows like the river. And when you’re done, never forget that the hallways in your home or the streets of your city are your catwalks for life. Happy Fashion Week to all and thank you for your continued business. We cannot wait to help you Prepare For Battle™
Fall Trend Collection - Inspiration
View the Fall Trend Collection behind the scenes video for inspiration towards new intuition.