The inspiration behind famous british hairdressing award collections

Published 04th May 2021 by charlottegw

It's always fascinating to find out the inspiration behind the British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional collections. These past finalists share what sparked the initial ideas for some of their most famous collections. Don't forget, entries are now open for the BHAs 2021, deadline is 2 July 2021 at 5pm and you can download the entry form here. Desmond Murray, Atherton Cox "For my last BHA collection the inspiration for that collection actually came to me 2 years before the shoot! I was in Selfridge’s and as I walked past the Charlotte Tilbury beauty counter I was drawn to these amazing beauty images. I stood there for a full five minutes looking at those images asking myself why I didn’t create amazing images like and also why I didn’t do amazing editorial commercial hair. From that day hair photography hair imagery was born, the idea was to create beautiful commercial editorial images which would stand the test of time and it’s all driven by social media." Robert Masciave, Metropolis "My NON BINARY collection was based on two very opposite iconic music artists from the 1970s and I thought it would be fun to put them together as they had similar hairstyles. Mireille Mathieu is a French singer who has recorded over 1200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 150 million albums sold worldwide. And the second influence was The Ramones, an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighbourhood of Forest Hills, Queens in 1974."

Errol Douglas MBE "Like all things it's all in the planning/ For me I’ve always got a shoot at front of mind and love nothing more than being on set. This lockdown has found me creatively starved! With regard to the British Hairdressing awards I’m obviously always looking at my input to be breathtaking, wondrous and extremely artful and in order to create something magnificent it takes me a really long time and many mood boards to reach my pitch. I remember planning a collection for Afro Hairdresser of the Year. Previous collections had always showcased black models with really heavily stylised hair, bordering on Avant Garde and were always rather dark, mean and moody. I had an idea to ring the changes and found 8 beautiful models that were willing to have their Afro hair cut, a stunning white background and clothes inspired by the very then Versace campaign. So in this case inspiration was drawn from many avenues, but I did have a very strong editorial input."

Mark Leeson "At Mark Leeson we produce collections throughout the course of the year – sometimes to fit a campaign brief but have got to say that when I was entering the British Hairdressing Awards and winning it personally – I started thinking about the concept of the next shoot the day after I was clutching the trophy! For me the British Hairdressing Awards means such a lot – I’ve got a competitive spirit and I’ve instilled this in my team as Joseph l’Anson, Lisa Graham, Terri Kay, Andrea Giles and Shaun Hall have all gone on to become award winners on their own merit. What I have always practised and what I preach to my team is that it is all in the planning. I’m constantly scouring the most unusual places for inspiration and know when its right as my stomach just flips over and more often than not the collection is borne from one individual thing that ticks my box. Whether it’s a shape, a collection of clothing or a form of lighting – this is the basis from which the spirit of each collection grows."

Anne Veck "The starting point of a collection is always different for me. When working on Toxic Fashion it was a documentary on Netflix programme called "The True Cost of Fashion” that really caught my attention! I was outraged and shocked by what I saw and it really affected how I felt. I went online and did more research on the subject. I then put key words to express my feelings and then worked on images to illustrate those words. Other times I have inspired by a lamp shade in a hotel lobby or a flower in nature."

Paul Falltrick "When looking for inspiration to create a collection I often try and start with a style and technique I have never done before and build it up from there. I try to steer clear of political and social influence and instead constantly surround myself with likeminded and creative people. Conversations with other people, even when it is nothing to do with hair, are what inspire me most because people and conversations are an incredibly good way of unlocking and developing ideas. When creating a collection, it is important to remember that it isn’t something you should take on entirely by yourself, being 100% responsible for a whole collection is incredibly hard and accepting help is what can, in fact, take your collection to the next level. Also, don’t be afraid of approaching these things as a bigger concept and really running with it. I have done collections in the past that had their own website, their own language and their own story and I thoroughly enjoyed going to town on all these different levels, marketing it in a new way and really pushing my ideas into a reality. If you believe in it, then go for it but most importantly, enjoy it!”

Jim Shaw "In my past collections I have been inspired by Mod culture. I have always loved the classic precision cuts that the Mods had. I also gets lots of inspiration from fashion houses such as Dior and Tom Ford."

Robert Eaton "When working on the concepts for my BHA collections, I always draw inspiration from my clients and the kind of hair they want to wear and trends we see in the salon. I am very much a salon hairdresser at heart and always aspire to create beautiful but wearable hair. So naturally this is translated into my creative work, but with an editorial twist, often inspired by fashion.

For example, my winning 90s Muse colour collection was heavily influenced by the revival of 90s fashion that I was seeing across social media, fashion brands, the high street and clients of course. There was a subtle nod to the 90s in the way people were dressing – looser, wide legged jeans instead of skinny fit, strong colours, swapping heels for trainers and wearing more subtle jewellery. So I focused my collection on three iconic 90s brands and their key fashion moments – Calvin Klein (the definition of designer denim), United Colours of Benneton (for their use of colour and modern and diverse ad campaigns) and Versace (which embodies femininity). I used simple and classic hair colour trends, block and full colour applications, including a return to timeless techniques such as foiling, to create a lived in and truly wearable colour collection that represents the decade that revolutionised the fashion industry."

Philip Bell "When preparing for my collections I’m more aware of noticing elements of fashion and colour, although I think that you have to be careful as anything that you are seeing is already out there and may be the one element that dates your images! If I see a shape or style that I like, I imagine how I would ‘move it on’ or how it might evolve it into something new. Re-imagining a classic look for example can create something fresh. I can get quite inspired by the models I want to work with and I often choose quirky looking girls for my shoots. Sometimes though I just take myself to a quiet place and see what ideas pop into my head. I then practice the ideas to see what I can create. It's quite amazing what you can create even when you go ‘wrong’."

Working with the right people is important and I am always happy to get opinions although you have to be ready to stand your ground when you need to.