Autumn 2021 / Careers
What is a Session Stylist?
Session styling is one of the most revered elements of a hairdressing career. Some combine it with a salon stylist career, while others are able to commit totally to session work. We spoke to two successful session stylists about their career journeys so far. How much of your job is session work?
Daniele de Angelis
Is Academy Manager at the Toni&Guy Academy in central London. He is a valued member of the international artistic team, combining session work with his job as Academy Manager.
Daniele De Angelis: As Academy Manager, my main role is working in the academy, then on a Saturday I work in the salon with clients. In my spare time I work on photoshoots and at fashion shows. I started work in the salon, then progressed as an educator. Sessionwise, I work at the Men’s Fashion Week and London Fashion Week every season, as well as working on our campaigns and collections. Every hairdresser needs to start their career in the salon; it’s the place to build your confidence and your skills. It’s the balance you need at the beginning of your career. CH: Give me a few examples of session work you have done DDA: Toni&Guy support a lot of up-andcoming talent and it’s great to work with passionate and enthusiastic people.
48 / Concept Hair
In the past decade I have worked with some amazing new and established names, such as Vivienne Westwood, Tom Ford, Giles Deacon and at events such as the British Fashion Awards. For me, everything has to have a beauty; when the hair fits perfectly into the puzzle you know you’ve done a good job. CH: What type of session work do you find the most challenging and why? DDA: The most challenging thing is time. Time is what can be the difference between a nice, relaxed job and a crazy five minutes. The biggest challenge is when a model arrives late from another show and you have to do the hair in three minutes, instead of 20 minutes and make it fit with the rest of the model’s looks.
