Avant garde hairdresser of the year 2011 - indira schauwecker

Indira Schauwecker pushed the creative broundaries with her ethereal collection that saw her named Avant Garde Hairdresser of the Year at HJ's British Hairdressing Awards.

We asked Indira to tell us a little more about what putting together her award winning collection entailed.

Why did you decide to enter the British Hairdressing Awards?

Entering the British Hairdressing Awards keeps me motivated and inspired. I enjoy pushing boundaries for new ideas and techniques that allow me to evolve my work and want to share it with others. Team work is so important and working with such diverse and talented people really helps to emphasise this.

The fact that so many hairdressers enter this competition makes me want to be part of it because it demonstrates the high standards of British hairdressing.

When did you start thinking about your collection?

When creating Avant-garde hair, you have to see the potential in things that surround you and demonstrate the ability to replicate an element of any idea in the styling techniques.

For me, preparation began two months before the deadline when I ask a costume designer to create the outfits. Then, a month before when both the hair and clothes were coming together I started to think about the mood I wanted to come across in my shoot.

What was your budget for the shoot?

I'm extremely lucky that Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck (Global Creative Director at TONI&GUY) offered to sponsor my shoot. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to enter the Avant Garde Hairdresser of the Year category!

 

Tell us a little about your models. What do you look for in a hair model? How did you source them and how much did they cost?

Casting always depends on the theme I want to portray and whether the models would all be able to all tell a similar story. It is very easy to fall in a trap of seeing a beautiful model with amazing hair, but then realising they are not great in front of the camera.

 

How long did it take from the day of the shoot to sending off a collection you were happy with?

Avant Garde is a category that always needs a lot of preparation, so l ended up shooting very close to the deadline.

We spent the three months prior to this fine-tuning the four looks in my spare time. However, it was not until five days before, that my fantastic team helped me to create the four looks so that I was left with enough time to select my final images.

 

What three tips would you give to people considering entering the British Hairdressing Awards?

• Get a good team photographer, make-up artist, models and stylist.
• You must prepare yourself well for the day as it is easy to lose track of your ideas with the pressure of anything that could go wrong.
• Remember it is for your shoot so make sure it is going the way you want it to.
  
  

SEE INDIRA SCHAUWECKER'S AVANT GARDE HAIRDRESSER OF THE YEAR COLLECTION