2 minute read
CATWALK TRENDS
Catwalk creator
Daniele de Angelis is Academy Manager at Toni & Guy and a backstage regular at London Fashion Week. Here’s his take on the autumn/winter 21 season.
DANIELE DE ANGELIS
Manager at Toni & Guy London Concept Hair: What was London Fashion Week autumn/winter 21 like to work on?
Daniele De Angelis: London Fashion Week went entirely virtual, but while the audience may not have been there, we worked on a whole host of models and shows.
CH: Tell us about some of the key hair looks from this season.
DDA: We saw lots of braids with the use of colourful fabrics to make the shape pop. This look was key for the Tolu Coker show. We also saw references from the late 60’s and 70’s with Paul Costello and a nod to the iconic 80’s with Vivienne Westwood.
In general, there was a trend towards celebrating natural texture, creating elegant vintage updos, and low placed ponytails and buns.
Continued…
CH: Can you describe what it is like to work backstage?
DDA: Working backstage at London Fashion Week is one of the most exciting parts of my job. That mixture of time pressure, buzz and spotless execution gives me goosebumps. Not to mention the excitement of getting to work with talented designers! And to see designers, stylists, make-up artists, hairdressers, models, production and many others all working together as one team to create the best show is unbelievable.
CH: How do you come up with the trends?
DDA: We don’t just come up with the looks on the day. We go through meetings which are called hair tests where we look at the entire collection from the designer to understand the concept and the vision. We then test different looks to see if they fit the story. Everything has to work together — the hair, make-up and clothes. It’s like a vision giant puzzle where every single piece has to match, only then will we see the whole picture. LONDON FASHION WEEK FACTS
1Toni & Guy work at some 80 shows each year
2The Toni & Guy session team members travel in from all over the world to style the hair at this leading fashion event
3Some 7,014 products are used backstage
4More than 105,000 visitors attend London Fashion Week each season
5Since 2004, Toni & Guy have supported key British designers including Henry Holland, Giles, Jean-Pierre Braganza, Peter Pilotto, Todd Lynn and many more.
In The Know
1A successful session stylist can earn upwards of £50,000 per year
2Top session stylists include Guido, Sam McKnight and Eugene Souleiman
3Session stylists can work on shoots for magazines, backstage at fashion events, TV shows or on music videos
4It’s a hugely competitive area of hairdressing — to begin with, you will need to work for free to build a name for yourself.
