Behind the glitz, the paparazzi snaps, dark sunglasses and the front row of the fashion shows, lies an army of talented individuals who usually work in a less than salubrious environment, and who need to create their magic at a drop of a hat.
Enter the Session Stylist…..
We are the industry's hard core mavericks living off our wits to produce creative and innovative ideas to wow the fashion industry and there is no better place than London fashion week.
Tom Kembery has been working in the fashion industry for over 3 years now and is currently fast emerging as the amazing young talent to book when wanting exquisite and unique creations.
His personal luxurious style has impressed the industry’s media, with the combination of superlative modern hairstyling with classic techniques. He is an innovator with fondness for graphic shapes, strong movement and the fusion of elegance.
Tom has worked for some of the best in the business, contributing to magazines such as I.D, Exit, Cover, Italian Vogue, Australian Vogue, G.Q, Tatler, Elle and 10. He has also shot advertising campaigns for Mackintosh, Hackett, Rodnik, Firetrap and Levi’s.
Tom also holds the current record at 21 years of age, as the youngest artist to have achieved a Vogue Cover.
“For me London Fashion Week is one of the biggest fashion calendar events, and as a hairstylist it’s the one time of the year that I get to work with all my team together and create some amazing hair styles that will wow the fashion industry and set future trends for hairstylists all over the world.
Here is the diary of my fashion week.”
Saturday 15th September, Paul Costelloe
It’s 12.30am and I’m at my studio finishing off cutting bob wigs for the Paul Costelloe show in the morning. My team and I are running on Coffee and Kate Nash playing in the background, but we are pretty much done, so it’s off to bed.
With only 3 hours sleep I have a car pick me up at my house at 4.00am to get to the tents in South Kensington where most of the shows are happening. Paul’s is the opening show at Fashion week so it’s great to be doing the hair for this.
As my team and the models start to arrive it’s down to business and the manic pressure sets in backstage. More and more people are arriving and there are photographers everywhere.
Saturday 15th September, Paul Costelloe (continued)
The hair of the show is loose white blond bob wigs; we were taking a very classic style that has been a big trend in fashion and making it more exciting and couture. Each wig was cut in its own unique way; some were plain bobs whilst others had an asymmetric feel. We used Forfex Clippers to cut the wigs as I find that using a clipper to cut hair gives me the freedom to “carve” interesting shapes into the hair.
We decided to use synthetic wigs to give the look of the hair a more plastic and unfinished feel. Using L’Oreal Techni.art Liss Control and BaByliss PRO GTionic hairdryers we dried the wigs on a low heat to seal in a stringy texture. The GTionic is great because it’s so powerful but compact enough to fit into my session bag. Before the girls went on to the catwalk we finished with L’Oreal Techni.art Shine Spray. The hair was done but not too done.
Once the show was finished it was time to pack up the equipment, grab a few Redbulls and head out for drinks.
Our car pulled up outside and my two assistants and I jumped in and were whizzed off to the Moet bar.
Monday 17th September, Harper's Bazaar shoot
It is unusual to have a photo shoot in-between fashion week, but the guys from Russian Harper’s Bazaar magazine are in town for the shows and need to shoot one last editorial for their November issue.
It’s a studio shoot down in Hoxton, for the main beauty pages, and the hair was all about shape and texture. I used the BaByliss PRO Crimper to add loads of texture to the hair - these crimpers are amazing as the texture makes the hair much easier to mold.
After the photo shoot I was picked up by my driver and taken back home where I chilled out and got ready to go to the most fabulous event in fashion week, “The Moet Champagne Party”.
At around 7pm I headed back into London with my driver, picked up some friends and headed over to Holland Park for the event.
Once I was inside it was straight to the bar for a few glasses and a chat. The place was amazing, black glass everywhere, champagne on ice in every corner and even a funfair outside…and the best thing was it was all for free.
The place was heaving with the fashion crowd and celebrities - everywhere I turned I saw someone famous.
Tuesday 18th September, Duro Olowu show
After the night before a 6am call time was the last thing I needed, however I needed to suck it up and get on with the job in hand.
This show was at the Columbia in Bayswater (very nice hotel).
Duro’s garments are all about colour and texture so we wanted to keep the hair very simple but still beautiful. We decided to go for two different hair styles for this, some loose and some up.
First off all we used the BaByliss PRO Twisted Porcelain Twin Barrel Tongs on all the girls to add a very beachy texture to the hair. If I wanted curly hair I would have used normal curling tongs, but for Duro the look I was after was a loose, wave texture and the Twin Barrel Tong gives the most amazing wave in the hair.
Once the hair was waved with the tong all I had to do was blow a little hot air with a dryer through it and use my hands to break up the hair – the result is gorgeous bouncy spring/summer beachy hair.
After curling we dressed the hair out with L’Oreal Techni.art Crystal Gloss to add shine. Some of the girls’ hair was left down with a strong side parting, and I tucked the hair behind their ears before they went on to the catwalk to give a more modern feel. The remaining models hair was put up into very loose French plaits, again finished off with L’Oreal Techni.art Crystal Gloss.
I think the finished look here is so gorgeous and simple, and something that every woman can recreate at home.
Wednesday 19th September, Rodnik show
Wednesday was all about rock and roll with the Rodnik Boys!!!
The show was taking place down at their HQ in East London – my team and I arrived on location at 11am to start work for a 3pm show.
The inspiration for the hair was “The Rodnik Army”. The designers wanted the hair to be really clean but they didn’t want just another ponytail or a bun.
I decided to use wigs with very heavy fringes, 6 in Blonde and 8 in Black. Using L’Oreal Techni.art Gel, I worked the gel all through the wigs and combed the hair to give it a really sleek look. Once the wigs were gelled I dried them off with BaByliss PRO hairdryers and diffusers. The most interesting thing about this hairstyle was that when the wigs dried they became very hard, almost like a helmet.
Once the wigs were fully dry I cut each one differently. Some hard heavy fringes, some were round and others had disconnected pieces. I used many different shapes within the wigs – these were all cut in freehand with the Forfex Clippers giving me no restrictions to the shapes I could achieve. We wanted to give every girl the same feel with the texture of the hair but still wanted them all to be a little different. It was a matter of here are the clippers, here is the hair….now create!
After the Rodnik show I was picked up by my driver and taken to the Topshop party over in Oxford Circus. The drink was flowing and I also took my team to say thank you for the show and their hard work...
Next stop Paris!!!!!
