Behind the scenes for kerastraight’s new collection: canvas

All hairstyles start with a blank canvas, from which stylists and hairdressers work in their own inspirations and influences to achieve their own artistic creation. But to achieve your desired finish your canvas must be the highest standard. KeraStraight ambassador and Trevor Sorbie art director, Tom Connell, recommends KeraStraight for creating an ace base. “KeraStraight creates a canvas for us to be creatively free,” he says. “The base and structure of the hair has to be good.” A quality cut and style needs to start with hair in the best condition and that’s what the KeraStraight range of products provides stylists with. “If you’re razor-cutting hair and the hair isn’t in a healthy condition, it’s going to stress it out,” says Connell. He continues, “With KeraStraight, whether it’s the model or a client, I can create the condition I need, which gives me maximum freedom when cutting.” Once the canvas is ready, the art can start, and for Canvas, Connell had a very specific look in his mind for what he wanted to create. “I can’t stress enough that the character of the model’s face is so important when creating an editorial image,” he explains. So how does he choose? Connell says it goes deeper than just a look, “When we were developing the look for the new KeraStraight campaign and were looking for a model, I wrote a little script about who that character would be, what she would wear, what she would look like and where she would work.” This then became the person they are appealing to with this collection. Connell describes this person as the kind of girl that gets compliments on her hair all the time and it looks great even if she was in a rush in the morning, “This is also why we went with the new tagline, ‘Thanks… It’s KeraStraight’” he says.

Inspiration for KeraStraight's Canvas

For the shoot and beyond Connell draws inspiration from the Britpop era, New Romantics and images of sculpted men’s styles. “I like to trace those images and place them on top of the girls in the magazines that are considered fashionable today,” he says, “There are so many workable combinations.” Despite it being an editorial shoot, Connell is aware of the cuts and styles working for everyday life too with him adding, “It’s really important to me not to do a haircut that starts on the shoot and ends on the shoot. I’m cutting a haircut on a person, not a technique on a model.” This real life/ editorial hybrid is evident in the outcome of the shoot, which tethers the line perfectly. Connell says this is all down to the quality of the products you start with, essentially your canvas. “With Kerastraight I can deliver the haircut they want and provide them with quality hair condition that’s going to last.” Hit gallery to see Canvas and click here to find out more about KeraStraight and their #THANKS campaign.