Wella Professionals was the official hair sponsor for AFI Jo’burg Fashion Week from 04 – 07 October 2018. The runway hair styles were keyed by the world-famous, Aubrey Loots and supported by a team of twenty-five hairstylists from JHB, PE and CPT. Each hair style was specifically chosen to compliment the #AfroAsian theme of Fashion Week and the designers ranges.
The partnership between Wella Professionals and AFI - formed earlier this year - is one that allows the best of fashion, design and art to fuse with the best in hair styling. The collaboration and sponsorship will extend to Cape Town Fashion Week which is confirmed for March 2019.
“We are very excited to be part of AFI Johannesburg Fashion Week and for our brands, Wella Professionals and styling brand, EIMI, to support African fashion”, said Modern Hair & Beauty Managing Director, Chris Stofberg.
Wella Professionals and AFI’s decision to join forces is a natural progression of two beauty and fashion powerhouses: one, the platform for showcasing and developing Africa’s best design and fashion talent, and the other the continental leader in hair craft.
Speak EIMI
EIMI has long been part of the global backstage, and Wella Professionals was excited to introduce it to the Jo’burg runway.EIMI encompasses creativity and artistic vision: it allows stylists to interpret global trends or set new accents of style and individuality.
An Aubrey Loots Exclusive
Jassy from Hair News scored an exclusive interview with Aubrey. Here is what he said:
Q: Tell us about your background and involvement with Fashion Week.
A: My background started in LA, about seven years ago. I started working on some shows there, then went to New York. I loved it and grew the whole Fashion Week experience in New York where I work a lot, then from there I worked on Paris Fashion Week – it has become a passion of mine and I have been doing it at this capacity for about six years.
Q: What are the most important skills for a Fashion Week hairstylist?
A: You have to have a great hairdressing skill set, and timing is critical. You have to be able to work fast and under pressure and deal with whatever is thrown at you. It’s something I love doing and thrive on. There’s a lot that goes on backstage! But it’s fun.
Q: How does it work when you collaborate with designers to create the hair – is it more your input or theirs?
A: Some designers are very specific about what they want, others will show me their collection and storyboard and I figure out the hair. So it can go either way, some are very hands on and some leave it up to me and the head of make up to decide what will work the best.
Q: What key trends are you seeing in hair?
A: We have just done New York Fashion Week with the spring-summer collections, and I am seeing a lot more brighter colours in the hair – this is definitely a key trend and I think this trend will translate into clients wanting to be more expressive with their colour, and will see clients coming back to the salon more often to refresh the colour. Another trend is having textures in the hair, such as doing a simple braid but braiding fabric in with it. We did this for a leading designer and it looked incredible.
Q: Do you enjoy doing the AFI (Africa Fashion Week) and what makes it different?
A: I love doing it as you get to work with different cultures of designers who bring their culture into their garments and looks. I also love coming to South Africa as it gives me a chance to see so many of my family and friends.
Trend Alert
The biggest trends in colour for the season, as Aubrey mentions, is bright colours - translated to clothing, accessories and hair. They key trends in terms of styling are braids (a big runway favourite at AFI Fashion week), ponytails, and high buns.
For more information contact Modern Hair and Beauty on 021 590 3700.
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