When fashion meets male grooming, magical things can happen. We recently caught up with our friends at Wella Professional to get the behind the scenes insight on their latest styling endeavors with their Global Creative Director for Care and Styling, Eugene Souleiman, at the Vivienne Westwood MAN’s AW16 “Be Specific” collection.
Wella x Vivienne Westwood MAN AW16
‘The criminal’, ‘the peasant’ and ‘the joker’ are the three distinct characters which inspired the AW16 ‘Be Specific’ collection at Vivienne Westwood MAN. Utilising these contrasting personalities, stylists bought the individual persona to life with a mixture of textures, patterns and fabrics. With quintessentially British heritage fabrics such as tweed in tailored pieces, sitting effortlessly next to luxe sportswear; the tones were set through the entire show, with unique looks for each model.
To compliment the fashion showcased with the Vivienne Westwood pieces, the style was extended throughout the the makeup and hair styles. With feminine lashes juxtaposed with fierce false fingernails, Eugene Souleiman added another layer of contrast with the hair, creating a rugged texture looked unique for each model.
“The collection is quite refined and gentlemanly, in a very Vivienne Westwood way, but we wanted the hair to really contrast that. It’s all about texture and the hair as a raw ingredient and we’ve created this almost post-apocalyptic texture where the hair looks broken, yet beautiful.”
Creating the Look
Despite each model having an individual look styled to their specific hair lengths and bone structure, the heart of each style was based on a raw, broken edge which contrasted against the feminine makeup looks created with a combination of elaborate false eyelashes and bold eye colours.
“I wanted the hair to look almost like it had been bleached – that real arid texture that when you style it, stays exactly where you want it. We saturated the hair with Elements Leave-In Conditioner to make it feel unwashed and then sprayed it with EIMI Sugar Lift and over-dried it to create the dry, rough texture. It’s a look that you really need to get your hands into – it’s not about perfect styling with brushes and combs, you need to feel your way.”
Using the hands as your main styling tool, create a randomised texture by using a combination of leave in conditioner and sugar spray. To break up lengths within your style, use a diffuser to over-dry your hair and roll pieces together adding even more texture to your look.
Hero Products @ Vivienne Westwood MAN AW16:
