With Fashion Week round the corner, we speak to Warren Holmes, International Creative Director at Nicky Clarke to get the low down on his Tips for the forthcoming season’s looks, what designers he’s looking forward to, the breakdown and run up to a show and how he survives the 20 hour days!
Fashion Weeks Spring/Summer 2011:
- New York – September 9th-16th
- London – September 17th-21st
- Milan – September 22nd-28th
- Paris – September 29th–7th October
“I feel changes are afoot for this season’s shows; New York is re-locating to Damrosch Park, Lincoln Centre from Bryant Park. The power of Fashion speaks for itself, New York Fashion Week generates $733 million in economic activity throughout the event, and Karl Lagerfeld has cancelled his signature collection show, due to happen during Paris Fashion Week.
I always prefer to do Spring/Summer shows, you can have more fun with Hair as it’s more care-free and spontaneous. Just look at last season, the oversized bows and hairpieces at Marc Jacobs, The new ‘Bun’ at Matthew Williamson, the rope braid at Antonio Berardi and of course the carefree side plait at Alexander Wang which in my opinion was the look of the summer if not the Year.
You can’t really make predictions ahead of Fashion Week as so many people are working on different collections. The Hair is always there to complement the clothes as an accessory however there are two key areas I’ll be pushing Hair into for Spring/Summer 2011. That will be selectively pinning hair away in places e.g Tong all your hair and firmly grip the back up to create that almost Princess Layer feel. Secondly product overload in key areas, whether it be scraping one side back, or just combing Hairspray through the sides and leaving the top really natural you want to almost get the contrast of textures in the hair.
I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Matthew Williamson’s collection who’s shows I’ve worked on for the last two seasons. I love his use of colours, Matthews a hippy at heart!
People often see the show on the catwalk and don’t really know what goes into it backstage. Hair and Make Up will have a Call time of three hours prior to show time. Before that the ‘look’ will have been set at a Test Day, where the Designer, Hair Stylist and Make Up artist along with their many assistants will sit down and digest the collection. The Designer will often have an idea of how they want the Hair to feel not so much look, and then it’s down to the Hairdresser to interpret that and create a style. So often the look will get sent back and re-done or a tweak here or there will need to be worked. I love test’s, granted they can get stressful at 2am when still nothing has been agreed but all those creative minds expressing their thoughts is what it’s all about for me, this is why I’m in it! Once the look is set it’s then a case of prep for the show, hair pieces, extensions, kit etc, which often goes on into the early hours. Show day- Chaos ensues for three hours backstage and then the show is done. When the girls are in the line-up you have your last minute changes and tweaks and boom the girls take over and work it. It’s then a case of quickly getting your kit together and hitting the next show more than likely on a bike! Last season in London we had three shows in one day, a Test and prep through the night! There is always a story or 10 to tell, I’ll be in touch……….”
Says Warren Holmes, International Creative Director at Nicky Clarke
Remember to Tune in regularly to www.nickyclarke.com/fashion to see instant updates from Fashion Week.
Tags: Catwalk, Fashion Week, Warren Holmes
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