The colors of summer with Fashion Week S/S 2014! Wella Professionals interprets the season’s trends with hair looks that range from minimalist rigor to advanced textures.
Paris, New York, London, and Milan: the fashion capitals of the world open a window on new hair trends. It is in fact on the runways of Fashion Week that the utmost creativity of many hairstylists can be found. Among these is the renowned talent of Eugene Souleiman, Global Creative Director of Wella Professionals, who used his magic touch on a several Spring/Summer 1014 collections. For example, in New York he signed the look for DKNY, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. “To celebrate the anniversary, Donna created a big collection with many different segments, with a lot of models,” explained Eugene, “so I wanted to create a look of uniformity that helped to tie the many segments of the collection together. To me, DKNY is all about youthful and natural sophistication: and the hair look needed to embody this.”
The coif decided upon for DKNY is indeed chic and absolutely minimalist, making perfect skills a fundamental requirement. Step one: create impeccable smoothness and then gather the hair into a side pony tail and leave it in sight over the shoulder. The final result is of great geometric balance, thanks to the overlapping of the lines on one side and the low pony tail on the other.
The solution conceived of for Haider Ackermann in Paris was much more dynamic. “The spectacular catwalk show featured models looking lost and out of place on a long, dark, shiny road,” explains Souleiman, “so I took this theme of feeling out of place, of feeling a little lost as a person.” In expressing this mood, Eugene created a look brimming in mystery and surprising details; a French chignon was combined with a 1940s-style banana to create a tomboyish effect, where elements of great femininity –like decisive hues and the veil of hair over the eyes– become details of striking impact that also convey a sense of fragility.
Back to the roots
A nod to the past to be interpreted in a contemporary update. This was the coiffure concept behind the hair styles for the Issey Miyake show in Paris. Souleiman drew inspiration from the Mohawk cut to create a solution that was “both sophisticated yet at the same time, deeply cool. I wanted to create a look that was strong and tough, but at the same time elegant and chic – something that utilized old hairdressing techniques but applied in a more contemporary way,” explained Eugene. The final effect reflects the same contrast of lights and shadows as the first collection signed by Issey Miyake, with graphic lines in bold colours that offset an ethereal lightness.
A loosely gathered French look that holds a large band of texturized hair behind the head. Nostalgia for Antonio Berardi in London as well. Indeed, the inspiration here was taken from the star heavy metal of the 1980s. “Antonio’s collection is incredibly chic,” comments Eugene, “with beautiful textured fabrics in body conscious and diaphanous silhouettes. At the fitting, I spotted some chic biker jackets which to me epitomized the play between opulence and something a little rawer. This inspired me to create a hair look that mixed beautifully crafted braids with a harder, rawer, organic texture.” The effect expresses a urban chic mood that delves its roots into the world of music: “This look is about making festival hair look chic, and takes its cues from popular culture, yet at the same time the braids give the look an air of sophistication.”
By Daniela Giambrone
