Life through a lens: mark hayes
Published
14th Sep 2011
by rachael
For more than 30 years Mark Hayes has been inspiring young hairdressers with his passionate approach to hair and his technical expertise.
Mark's signature style - a series of pared-down looks reflecting his love of modernist art and architecture - puts him at the forefront of global hair design, while his work with Sassoon takes him all over the world coaching, teaching and inspiring.
Here, Mark speaks to HJi about some of his favourite images.
"I turned up at the studio as a nervous 19-year-old, wanting to revolutionise the Sassoon methodology of hair. I created an undercut fringe, which hadn't been done before, so in a way that's exactly what I did. I didn't want to add any colour to it, but the colourist coloured the fringe and called the look Toyah. I hated it as people thought she was wearing a headband. However, it's one of my favourite images as it was the first one I created."
"I was the assistant artistic director in Manchester at the time and had already cut the model's hair a few weeks before this shoot, so didn't really know what to do with her. I was working with Annie Humpreys on a technique called Animals - bleaching a section, then colouring a section. The colour took so long I only had 20 minutes to cut her hair, but I love the finished look."
"I've always loved the mix between conceptual and commercial hair. This model had amazing eyes and the gamine haircut works wonderfully with her face."
"Everyone has a muse and at this time model Lucy King was mine; she was gangly and had an androgynous face. David Bowie has always been an influence and this was my version of a haircut he had on the album Low - space-age and colourful."
"This model was very beautiful with astonishingly clear blue eyes. We were working on our Contemporary collection based on contemporary design, so I gave her an architectural fringe. Her PR went crazy because I had cut off her hair, but it was worth it as she looked amazing."
"I love soft, loose hair and love the way it moves in this image. I try to do graphic and softer hair; if I only worked on hard graphic lines all the time I would get bored. I love the idea that anyone can wear this hair and it's not too crazy."
"This is special to me because it was the first collection I worked on as international creative director. It's based on the classic box bob, with a small fringe, a curved interior and asymmetric finish. We used a wind machine to show Sassoon hair in motion. Sassoon shapes looks great when they are static, but come to life when they are moving."
"I wanted to recreate the look children have on the way to school - smoothed at the front, but all over the place at the back. I created a bob, took a triangle at the back and stack permed it to make it stick out. I cut a bob through the front, straightened it, and it really works."
"This was based on the Erte, the original Sassoon shape. I was influenced by the city of Berlin at the time, so used neon lighting to make it look like she was in an underpass. The model looks so languid and relaxed, and the pointy fringe really is the focal point."
"This is my absolute favourite image that I have created. We dressed the model in bright clothes and then this little black quintessential Sassoon cut. It's very Sassoon."
