Runway S/S18

HOW TO
GET FROM
John Smedley
Jonny Engstrom
Lauren Bell
Felder Felder
HERE…
Haizhen Wang
Ashley Isham
ALWAYS WANTED TO GO FROM THE SALON TO FASHION WEEK?
FOR THESE TWO HAIRDRESSERS, THE DREAM CAME TRUE
FASHION WEEK CAN BE MYSTERIOUS. You can see the exclusive
happenings unfold on social media, but how do you actually get there,
backstage, in the thick of it? Well, it comes down to buckets of hard work,
plenty of perseverance, and maybe a little help from L’Oréal Professionnel,
as session regulars Jonny Engstrom and Lauren Bell discovered.
Jonny Engstrom, art director at Guy Kremer, found his way to session
styling via a win at one of the most prestigious hairdressing competitions
in the world. “When I left Sweden to work for Guy Kremer in the UK, my
dream was to work backstage at London Fashion Week,” he explains.
“My journey with L’Oréal Professionnel started when I won the L’Oréal
Colour Trophy in 2001. Then I went on to do my own seminars, teaching
around the world, and this led to doing great shows at Central Saint
Martins and London College of Fashion with their graduate students.”
Lauren Bell, senior stylist at Haringtons in Soho, has always been
fascinated by the world of fashion – a world that she now regularly works
in, assisting backstage for top hairdressers. “Now, when I think back to
when it was a dream, it feels amazing to have achieved it,” Lauren says.
Lauren joined the L’Oréal Professionnel ID Artist Programme in 2015,
which gave her the opportunity to make the leap into session styling. “The
ID Artist Programme is a great tool for getting an insight into how session
hair works,” says Lauren. “By working with like-minded people, you can
share ideas and hear about events.”
The L’Oréal Profesionnel ID Artist Programme gives you access to
education from top session stylists and a chance to practise your skills
with them in person. “The education we received really inspired me and
helped elevate my knowledge in preparation for being backstage,” explains
Lauren. “It would still be just a dream to work backstage at London
Fashion Week if I hadn’t auditioned for the ID Artist Programme.”
Both Lauren and Jonny have worked backstage at a host of prestigious
fashion shows – Jonny has done hair at Fyodor Golan, Jean-Paul Gaultier,
Erdem, John Smedley and led shows at On|Off and this season’s Haizhen
Wang, while Lauren has worked on teams at Topshop Unique and Graduate
Fashion Week among others. Through session styling, Lauren was given
the opportunity to learn from her idol. “My highlight was getting to assist
Richard Phillipart,” she explains. “His work is definitely my hair crush, so
when I got to assist him at the Bouyez show, it was super-exciting for me to
see how he works and see his vision put into practice. The show was fun and
I got to assist alongside some of the other ID Artists.” Meanwhile, Jonny has
relished the chance to see some of the most incredible clothes in the world:
“My session styling highlight was leading the hair team at Stéphane Rolland
during Paris Couture Week in 2011 – it was an amazing opportunity to see
how the dresses are handmade, like beautiful art.”
Fashion Week requires a specific combination of skills, which both
Jonny and Lauren have developed during their time on session teams.
“I think the most important thing is product knowledge – get to know the
products you’re using, how they work, try different ways to apply them and
34 RUNWAY Spring/Summer 2018