Each season, fashion runways prepare for the take-off of the hottest trends for clothing, hair as well as make-up. And backstage, hairstylists play as much an important role as fashion designers and make-up artists in creating the total head-to-toe look.
Identified by top hairstylists, the spring/summer 2013 trends range from East-meets-West to understated undone tresses, the latter allowing you to look as if you're having a bad hair day.
Tune into the trends
Wella Professionals global creative directors Eugene Souleiman and Josh Wood hit some high notes for hair in The Sound of Color _ the concept of the 2013 TrendVision looks. The two looks for the first half of the year, Fusion and Decibel, compare to different genres of "musical hair".
One stunning Fusion style draws inspiration from hair of sumo wrestlers, and Souleiman created this look for the Haider Ackermann fashion show.
"What I loved about this style were all the inherent contraindications _ it was beautiful, from front and back, glamorous as well as handsome, chic and yet just a little twisted. And that's always sexy," said Souleiman of the sumo style, which involves the folding of a ponytail to get a baggy look.
"We are taking very traditional Eastern elements and styling hair and fusing them with a slightly Western eye and Western technique," he said. "It's incredibly structured but there is something really very spontaneous and random about the colour."
His counterpart for hair colour, Josh Wood, selected a palette of willow, olive, tobacco and deep Chinese plum for this East-meets-West hair trend.
More exciting shades accompany the 70s-inspired Decibel looks, which present hair that has form and structure in an undone and messed-up way while very bright hues are used against something very natural.
"Decibel for me is a freedom in colour," said Wood. "The 70s time reference was very much about experimenting and trying new things. People wanted to express themselves through clothes, make-up and hair and certainly the colour palette for Decibel is very much about this kind of clash."
Hair meets wardrobe
The concept Hair Meets Wardrobe can be seen from London Fashion Week, when designers work closely with make-up artists and hairstylists to get the looks that best represent the fashion brand and the new collection.
Toni&Guy were busy backstage at the Spring/Summer 2013 London Fashion Week and the British salon brand spotted four trends: Hide & Sleek, Play it Cool, Classic Moves, and Press Play.
The Hide & Sleek style gives a hint of glamour while being subtle and sophisticated, to demonstrate how "less is more". Play it Cool comes with catwalk-inspired twists and turns with loosely flowing textures. An example of Play it Cool is the fun and young pom-pom style from the Ryan Lo's show, and this casual look also also follows the fusion of East meets West.
Toni & Guy global hair ambassador Mark Hampton came up with inspiration on imagining a meeting between Andy Warhol and the Queen _ with a bit of Elizabeth Taylor and 1970s Debbie Harry thrown in. The chic result was one of the Classic Moves for the Vivienne Westwood Red Label show, and this style marks the return of retro in newfound strength.
For the Maarten van der Horst show, Hampton discussed with the designer and decided to use the look of the Siouxsie and the Banshees band for an asymmetric bob hairstyle inspired by the 1980s. It looked like the models with this Press Play look were up for non-stop partying.
Reinventing glamorous locks
Tresemme stylists Jeanie Syfu and Matthew Curtis worked for various fashion shows and concluded that their favourite trends were: Glam Grunge; Undone and Textured; and 60s with a Twist.
"From faux undercuts to slicked down parts, hair was reminiscent of 90s grunge, with a glamorous and up-to-date twist," Syfu said of Glam Grunge. "This was one of my favourite trends from the season because it's such a modern, fresh look for spring."
One of the most wearable and understated trends seen on the catwalk was hair worn down and as natural-looking as possible, which became the Undone and Textured trend. "It's important to work with your natural texture and make sure your ends are always trimmed and healthy," said Syfu. "For this style, hair was kept flat through the crown so texture could really make the statement."
Curtis noted that the 60s trend emerged as a key look for spring/summer 2013. "The look is an effortless mix of classical beauty with the more grungy side of the 1960s," he said. "I worked with over seven designers that had very different styles of clothing allowing us to fuse these two different sides of the 60s with a 'Twist' look together."
