London collections: men - a backstage diary

After receiving the Scandinavian Educator of the Year Award, Finnish session stylist and salon owner, Mikko Vainio, joined Fudge Professional creative drector, John Vial backstage for the Spring/Summer 2016 season of London Collections: Men. Mikko has made a name for himself editorially and, this year, was awarded Hair Stylist of the Year by Elle Magazine Finland. Here, he shares how he found his first time backstage at the shows. Day 1 Every day at LCM was exciting and full of action. On the opening day, I met the Fudge Professional team to be briefed – they’re such a cool and fun crowd, I really enjoyed working with everyone and being led by John. After being given an overview of the looks we would be creating for the seven shows Fudge Professional was heading up, it wasn’t long until we were backstage styling for the models for the Craig Green SS16 collection. Hair was dried flat with a hair net to create natural texture for a ‘slept in’ look. From Craig Green, we went straight to the venue for the Christopher Shannon show. This collection was inspired by summer hedonism so we created a wet and carefree style, as if the guys had been partying all night at a foam party. There was an electric vibe backstage and it felt like we were actually getting ready to go out and party! Day 2 Saturday was slightly more relaxed as we only had the Sibling show in the evening. I loved this American football-inspired collection, which fused madness with classical elements. We emulated this contradiction in the hair look by combining ‘groomed’ with American college footballer. The new Fudge Professional Gloss was key for creating this wet and sweaty look. Day 3 Sunday was our biggest and most challenging day at LCM; not only did we have three shows to style for, but we also created our most complex look of the season at the KTZ show. The day kicked off with James Long which was all about the wet look. Hair was super-effortless and we once again used the Fudge Professional Gloss to create a glistening, wet effect. From James Long, we went to prepare the models for the Belstaff SS16 presentation. The venue and set for Belstaff was amazing. Taking over Old Billingsgate Market on the Thames with a desert jeep and two tonnes of sand, the Belstaff S166 collection developed the concept of the great British desert explorer. The guys needed to look like they had been wandering in the desert for a couple of days so we kept the iconic Belstaff quiff, but made it softer, dryer and more textured. Our final show of the day, and most challenging of the season, was KTZ. The look was 1950’s quiffs meet 1920’s finger waves...on over 40 male models! Using Fudge Professional Gum and Cement, we created defined, slicked back finger waves on the top - a simple look, but technically very challenging. Day 4 We finished LCM on a high at Katie Eary’s SS16 showcase. Katie and Fudge Professional have been working together for a number of seasons now and this really came through backstage. Katie’s SS16 collection was fun and summery - you could see her personality reflected in the colourful collection. The hair look for Katie Eary was a modern take on the rockabilly 50’s quiff, contrasted with an 80’s mullet. I have always loved the 50’s so this was my favourite look of the season. I had a fantastic time at LCM and am thrilled that I was selected by Fudge Professional to take part. I've been to watch the shows before, so it was great to go behind the scenes and be a cog in the fashion machine! I will of course be taking the trends back to my clientele in Finland, but what fascinated me about the experience was the attention to detail that was given to each and every model. Even though a look may appear simple, it’s still executed with just as much care and precision.