El Otro Lado

There once was a time, not to long ago when in many industry’s including my own we got to travel to far off places that other wise we would of never known existed.

Depending on what you do for a living this usually stopped around the time on the years 2008 – 2009. It has been about 6 to 7 years for me that I have been to a foreign place that really blew me away. Well this month of July 2012 God blessed me using UK Traveller Conde Nast as a vessel.

I techniqually had literally set one foot in this country of Panama many years ago I thought, while working in Costa Rica. Let me explain. Many moon cycles ago I did a job in a town at the very south tip Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica called Pavones. As for the avid surfers out there of course you know this black sand, one of the longest left breaks in the world. For the ones that don’t it borders Panama by meters and is a collage of rainforest terrain mixed with black sand beaches and every insect, wild life you can probably think of in Central America. On that trip I actually put my right leg on the side of Panama, or at least that is what the local told me. In reality it would of taken a quick bus ride to do so. That is the closest I had ever come to Panama until this July. Pavones Costa Rica is one of the only spots in all the contents I had been to that the local misquote loved my blood besides Zanzibar, Africa. The bites lasted almost a month and still itched once back home in NYC for the full 30 days.

We arrived in Panama City airport, drove from the Pacific Ocean side to the Caribbean side.

And took a boat to the most wonderful place called El Otro Lado. A place that a woman from Madrid bought and kept its beauty, history and encourages its life. Definitely one of a kind.  On top of having the honor to see their heritage and culture at night after shooting all day, I must say besides the misquotes attacking me all the time it was really a life memory.

I guess what I am trying to make a point of no matter how many bites you get, and how long they stay a special place God created on this earth will never go away.

I would like to thank, Noe Dewitt, Finoa Lintott, Craig Honeycutt, Kevin Keith and our awesome model Guisela Rhein. Thank you for the gorgeous pictures and the life long memory. 

The Art Of Listening

            I have been blessed with my work to be able to travel to many countries and experience and see the different cultures of so many people.

            I am also blessed to be able to live in the USA and in New York City with such diverse cultures and languages. But it took me tell Saint Martin an island in the northeast Caribbean, (approximately 190 miles east of Puerto Rico). To discover how the tone and fluctuation of one’s voice can explain, show and build a story without really understanding their language.

            The north side of the island of Saint Marteen is Dutch and the south side of the island of Saint Martin is French. I recently did a shoot in the French area of Saint Martin. I took three years of French in school and since the age of 19 have been to many French speaking countries including many years of working in France, so I do understand,”le petite “.  I find it funny that of all the places I have been, it was that in the south side of this island of Saint Martin is where I realized how ones voice can express so much with fluctuation.

            It hit me one night what I had realized a week after my trip…  I was Smoking a cigarette on my stairs in NYC.  My ears caught a attention of young man speaking,”French” he was on his cell phone as he wobbled across the path way in front of me, I assumed he was tipsy. The tone of his voice was longer and his pauses in between for a French man were even shorter than usual.

            As hairdressers we are used to talking with are hands and fingers and we can communicate so much by doing so. Not just behind the chair but as for me a lot of time it is with using my hands to communicate with the art director or model on set that are from a different country and don’t speak English very well or sometimes at all. Trying to communicate without using language as we all know is not always easy. But as it is with many cultures I am finding it is about the art of listening. Listening to someone’s tone and how their voice fluctuates not reacting to the up’s and down’s but really listening to what they are presenting is what I hope to hone in on.  I believe that listening is an art and it takes practice, just like doing great hair only comes with practice and then more practice. I hope to practice and hone in on the art of listening as much as I do with my hair.

Some Times People Don't Undrstand

            One of my friends asked me yesterday, “were have you been Noah?” which I get this question quite frequently from friends in the industry and from my friends that are not. I answered back Tulum Mexico, South Carolina, LA, and Palm Springs lately. He shrugged and let a sarcastic sigh out, “ I wish I had such a hard job.”

             As many of you hairdressers out their that freelance full time or teach or are on the road allot traveling for work understand, it’s no vacation even if there are models in bikinis and you might even be in really exotic places or fancy hotels. I have encountered this disillusion from my personal friends and acquaintances I’ve meet over the 18 years of doing what I do. I don’t expect them to understand and to be honest most of the time I don’t even try to explain. Instead I sigh with them and say, “ Your right, I thank God I love what I do and get to do it.” But the other day when my friend, that is a painter asked me that question, I paused in my sub conscious and made a mental note that maybe it would be a good idea to blog about what it does entail and why it is far beyond any were near a vacation.

             So here goes.  Hair and the model or models are the first one’s up on location.  Of course almost 90% of the time the account wants sunrise as one of the shot’s and I totally understand why. With how the sun gives that,” Golden Light” from sunrise and sunset it makes everyone look amazing and you only have it for a hour and half or so.  Now even if you’re not in a desert or beach area even in Rome Italy that “ Golden Light “ is what they want for their image. So that means usually I am doing hair in the dark from as earlier as 3:45am  - 5:00 am max since most sunrises are around 5:30 am – 6:00am. Sometimes especially on the beach places that are quite remote I am with generator in toe outside my hotel room if it is in a place were the electricity can’t take how much the voltage is needed from my blow dryer, hot tools and the lights the photo assistants have to set up the night before so I can see what I am doing in the dark.  As you can imagine, this also causes some anger to honey mooners and vacationers in that particular location with a generator at that time in the am on their special escape from their reality. I become such a favorite person of those guests of the hotel.

            After that we shoot and shoot and then the sun around 1-3pm get’s so high and straight down on the model that it makes the youngest of youth have bags underneath their eyes and shadows cast every were they shouldn’t be. So unless the photographer and account wants to capture images they want under shade or scrim the entire area we want to shoot we usually take lunch and a break. We get touchups done after that so we can start again around 3pm and we continue to shoot tell sunset which depending what part of the world you are can be any were from 5:45 – around 7 pm.

            So that is the run down as you can see it’s not all that it’s painted out to be on reality TV shows. LOL

Hair Is All That Matters

Since the runway’s this last September here in NYC, I’ve been running into a very familiar situation on the road. Doing hair in the heat and humidity followed with embarrassment in the lobby of the hotel after work. Let me explain.

In the last month or so I’ve been in Sedona, AZ, 123 degree F., Charleston, SC, 90-100 degree F, with 95% humidity, and Palm Spring, CA, 104 degree F. Charleston we were shooting outside the entire 3 day’s on a wharf, sail boat and land. All that matters is the models look amazing, not what the crew looks like. So of course with 5am call times and going some times tell 10 pm you can imagine how the crew looks at the end of the day walking into the hotel? Let me give you a description of the make up artist and myself walking in the 1^st night to the Charleston Place Hotel (four star hotel, with old Southern Flair).

We came into the grand marble lobby at around 11pm, her hair she put up in a bun trying to make it presentable but for lack of a good word it was a ratty, salty mess. Stains of dirt and ocean sand along with gosh knows what all over are shorts and my white tank top a nice shade of grey. Both of us in flip flops my hair a grease salty mess with our hair and make up kits, (90 pound luggage’s) in tow. Entering the lobby we both saw a slew of distinguished southern men. Slakes, tucked in silk and rayon button up shirts, shoe’s shined and cigars in hand. Accompanied by elite southern women with hair and make up all primped and textures and sparkles intertwined into all their outfits. Like only a southern woman can get away with wearing. We left our bags at the bottom of the two steps leading into the grand bar. No joke the entire bar stops talking, looks over at us and whispers floating in the air of the way we looked start floating around us. Except for one southern lady who clearly had quite a few drinks already, she continues her loud conversation with a gentleman. The make up artist and myself quickly order our drinks to take up to our room were our showers were waiting to wipe us clean of our day. Dashing drinks and kits in hand we get into an elevator. Right behind us the few drinks to many southern lady and her friends stepped in before the elevator door’s shut. She looks at the makeup artists and say’s “ You two where ever your from have checking in down. With your drinks in hand to your room.” We explain to her that our luggage is our work kits and that we just got off work. She reply’s, “ well you defiantly were outside all day hope your shoot goes great.”

This has happened to me in my career more times than I can remember. Still to this day it is awkward for me and the others of every crew. I was telling this story to the model “ Cintia “ just three day’s ago on set in Palm Springs in 104 degree weather after a 10 hour day in the van on the way back to the Parker Hotel (The famous Johnathan Adler interior design hotel, in Palm Springs) .We laughed and she said,” It happens to me all the time I hate it, everyone stares at me.” .We all get out of the van by the enormous double orange doors of the Parker Hotel. Cintia and I find out the crew’s dinner reservation time for the tonight and we are the first of the 11 of our crew to walk through the orange enormous doors into the lobby. Immediately as we walk in, myself looking exactly like or worse than I did in the Charleston hotel and Cintia make up washed off and hair still coiffed in short jeans and a dirty little blue tee. We run into the entire lobby packed all 2,000 plus square feet of it, completely crammed. Young men to older all dressed in slakes button up shirts clean cut even some in ties and blazers. The women and girls sporting Mossino, Tory Birch sundress lavish shoes, with full make up on. Our plan was to grab a drink and go straight to the showers. Cintia giggles and make’s a grown, “No not again!” she says. We put our heads down and as quick as possible by pass the over crowded bar and squeeze through the sea of people who frightfully move out of the way for us. Probably scared that some of my dirt will scrap upon their outfits. Of course for the men they are goking at Cintia, which is her number one thing she tolled me she hates about doing this. Later I find out our crew and a few more guest all check out tomorrow and the hotel is taken over by one of the richest and lavish wedding’s the hotel has every seen by some couple in Austin Texas.

Just another day on location in a hot weather place. The thing that makes me proud while walking into these situations. Is knowing these same people who we try to avoid in the lobby or hotel when we look thrashed from our day of work. Are the same consumers that what we are shooting pictures to sell their clothes or shoes or whatever product where their for. At the end of the day it’s all about your hair and your work not the way you look after a long day. At least with what I do.  

Libertine Fall/Winter 2012

            NYC Fashion week is over here in NYC. I only got to do the very first part of it due to shooting a campaign in Charleston SC for the rest of the fashion week.

I was so excited to do Libertine again this season, Johnson Hartig the designer is known for his graphic, deconstruction on a classic look and he shined like never before. He has always been ecologically friendly with fashion and his line this year was the best yet. The graphics were bold and monochromatic but with such awesome urban feel with classic cuts. He really made a statement. What we, Johnson and myself came up with for the hair was from his inspiration. His inspiration, was of a girl who had gone out the night before all done up make up, blow-dried, hair set and even a little back combing in crown, she fell asleep in the early am. Then she woke up and without doing anything threw on her clothes and was on her way. We wanted a 60’ish kind of feel to the hair, so to make it modern I used a messy middle part instead of the common side part in the 60’s and from the end of part back put deconstructed backcombing. Using a 1 ½ inch Marcel my wonderful team started 1 inch off the root curling all the way down leaving the ends of the hair out for that, undone feel. Think Amy Winhouse meets Paco Rabanne 1960’s the morning after.

            The pictures here show Johnson’s vision come to life with the feeling I created for Libertine. Watch out next season in February put Libertine on your radar. 

The ? of Public Relations and Runway's

            I’ve been working on Runway’s, Prêt-a-Porter, and Couture since 1995 and have seen the politics and business of the show’s change twice.  I believe possibly another change is upon us this season in September. 

In the 80’s and earlier 90’s the designers would pay for their hair and make up out of their own pocket. Or if they were really wanted by the press, one of their sponsor’s from their gift bags they give away to each patron at their shows, would donate a few thousand dollars to the designer for their show.

Then in the mid 90’s MAC Cosmetics came along with a brilliant plan of showcasing their Brand. They provided money to the designer on top of paying for the director and their team.  An inexpensive way of doing PR considering how much they paid and what they would receive.  Through this they changed how hair and make up were paid doing the shows. MAC started with their sponsored make up artist, “ Tom Pecheax, Stephan Maria, Fulvia Farolfi.. Exec.” and would give the clothing designers 20,000.00. They would also pay for the director’s pay and their team. In return MAC would have their brand name plastered in the back of the runway, in the bags and videos of the back stage interviews and such, creating heightened brand awareness using PR. This went on for a few years then all the make up brands were doing the same thing. Eventually by 2001 all the big hair brands got in it also. It has been that way up to this coming season.

Now for the first time some major brand players in hair and make up are stepping down from their sponsorship’s to the designers and artists. The Global hair and make up Contractors of the big brands AKA (Guido, Tom Beusche, Pat McGraph, Liugi,… ect.) are still getting their designer’s sponsored but the rest of the national contractors on that label aren’t. This does two very interesting things.

1)                    It leaves the clothing designer’s 40,000.00 out of cash they are used to from the hair and make up sponsors. This is leaving them scrambling to see if on of the big names (PG, J&J exec) will sponsor their hairdresser and make up that they want.

2)                    It also allows the smaller tier companies an opportunity to get their foot into this awesome PR playground with sponsorships less than 20,000.00. Possibly they might be able to  negotiate just paying for the director and team for hair and make up.

Whatever the out come this season that is upon us brings. We might be able to see a new way of business, PR, in the hair and make up area of the shows.

“Always change, never fear it, its life.”    Noah

The Reality of Runway

The Reality of Runway

            After 17 years of working on runway, prete a porte and couture (Not Juice even though I miss the old CEO of Liz Claiborne.) and directing my own shows the last 7 years. I found myself in Aspen fashion week and I learned something I didn’t know about myself.

            A person from FHI Heat asked me” what inspires you? “. Of course what came first to my mind I knew. “My family, my girlfriend, children, God. Art sculptures, the way a tree looks with out leaves in winter. The way there is architecture and form in everything in life. “

            And then something I have not articulated came to me. Not because of talent or the hands God gave these hairdresser’s that I was working with. But their view and the person they are to the hair. I realized I have been blessed with such an awesome and amazing gift to be able to do hair and how it   inspires me  and in such away it so personal and different for me. As such it is for these hairdresser’s I was privileged to work with.

            I have been blessed with being able to have friends and work with people that love hair. That I think is the reality of any Runway.