REDKEN Creative Consultant Guido Palau created looks for two very different kind of women at the Valentino and Alexander McQueen Autumn 2012 shows in Paris recently.
The romantic French twist he created at Valentino matched perfectly with the folklore inspired dresses with long sleeves and high necklines, and helped bring the signature Valentino femininity to the darker leather pieces in the collection.
The look at McQueen was a nod to the futuristic aesthetic that designer Sarah Burton embraces. The show it self was certainly all about storytelling and Guido played a major role in helping create this story, choosing Japanese-anime inspired- visors to give the girls an anonymity that put the emphasis on the fantastical clothing.
Valentino
“I’ve created every classic Valentino look, very Pretty. I’m doing a 7os kind of twist that has a very soft feel to it. Valentino’s got such a signature girl now, every season I reinvent the hair whether it’s at twist, a braid, or a knot. It’s a challenge but what’s very nice about it is that it’s always very pretty, very soft, very feminine. It’s a great look for women.” – Guido
Alexander McQueen
“The whole idea of this was I wanted to depersonalize the girls completely, and this was achieved by fitting them all with the exact same white/platinum wig. The wigs are like helmets with mirrored visors so it’s very futuristic looking. When I work with Sarah, we get involved very early on, and we decided here that the clothes have so much personality that the anonymity of the gill was very important.
I looked at all of these cartoons and Japanese art for inspiration, and I really wanted a Manga [Japanese Cartoon] feeling to the girl so we came up with the idea of the visors. Then I thought how do I minimize the hair yet make it uniform? So we then came up with the idea of the wigs. The wig was then cut into a bob and I’m using forceful 23 super strength finishing spray to really sculpt the hair so it looks like a helmet. There’s no reality to the wig – You don’t feel any sexuality or anything. It’s very cold and very modern couture.” – Guido
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