Sunday, March 24, 2013

Nicholas French Class Creation

If you aren't familiar with Nicholas French, he is one of the top hairdressers in the world and is known particularly for his incredible Avant Garde creations. He assisted under Vidal Sassoon (probably THE number one name in the industry, completely revolutionized haircutting in the 1960's) for two years, has won several times at NAHA (North American Hairstyling Awards) and is almost iconic in the fashion/hair industry.

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to take an all-day, hands-on class with him when he came to my school to teach! We learned techniques, methods, and pointers from a so-nice-he-could-be-your-grandpa-avant-garde-mad-genius all day, and it doesn't get much better than that.

Here are a few pictures of Nicholas French's work, just to give you a taste of what the Avant Garde industry is like:
















This collection (above) was inspired by his trip to Asia, as can be seen by the thin, paper-like fabric, colors and background. He showed us how he created each one of these incredible hairpieces.



Yes, everything you see on top of those girls' hair is actually hair. Insane, right? He taught us how to create
this "blades of grass" technique, and I incorporated it into my own creation for the class. The model on the right's hairpiece was inspired by a car Nicholas saw in Detroit, he told us. It looks like the grill of the car and instantly says "high-end" with the yellow and black.



I hope by now you're either fainting in your chair or your jaw is on the floor, because these hairpieces are just wild! :) The two on the right incorporate the "blades of grass" technique, and the one on the left is several hairpieces put together. He showed us several of these techniques as well. Nick French is absolutely genius.


I really shouldn't post this for such dismal contrast, but here is a picture of the hairstyle I created as part of the class. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but this picture shows the rose I created that did turn out great. Everyone loved it. I'd love to incorporate this into a formal or avant-garde look and do something with it.


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