Neville at Ralph & Russo SS15 Paris Haute Couture show…

Our styling at The Ralph & Russo SS15 Paris Haute Couture show has already gained so much incredible press – and the media, this time, hasn't forgotten to acknowledge the 'bohemian, loosely scooped bun' that was created by Stephen Low and my team from Neville Hair & Beauty for our fellow London-based couture house. It's been exactly a year since we first collaborated with Ralph & Russo at Paris Haute Couture shows and I am beyond ecstatic that Neville Hair & Beauty continues to be their preferred choice when it comes to immaculate hair.

Our show at the magnificent Grand Palais was a perfect ending to Haute Couture Week in Paris with the front row that instantly made headlines around the globe.

One of the special guests was Cheryl Cole who famously wore a Ralph & Russo SS14 gown at her wedding, emulating the entire catwalk look, from toe to hair. I've been wondering whether she knew that the hair style that she re-created for her big day was the vision of my top stylist, Stephen Low.

And that we would gladly do it for her for any other special occasion.

For the next summer season Ralph & Russo played with all things floral taking references from Boticell's Primavera and Pussin's Realm of Flora artwork. It was a midsummer dream, fairy-tale look for the awakening , playful young woman. And if the shape of the collection was recognisably prim and structured, the hair was exuberant in its loosely scooped bun gently hand-touched together. It was the hair-effect that brought real emotion to the entire catwalk look and one of the real gems of Stephen Low's vision. It was the touch of his sensitivity as an artist that was truly visible in that youthful and light fairy-bun, something that's very much evolving into his signature style. And he is such a role-model to the rest of my team who follow his lead and gentle manner which I find very touching to observe.

  

 Stephen Low backstage

It's also very hard for me not feel buoyant after all the amazing shows and editorials we've worked on since the beginning of the year. I am really content with the fact that my team has truly matured and that they work together so well, whether they are hair-stylists, make-up or manicure professionals brought together by my ELSL Management agency. We've also managed to prove a few people wrong and produce stellar work once again for all our clients which has always been the result of our combined team effort with our vision of pure excellence in mind.

Cristian Pignatta backstage

Until next time,

Elena

All Images by Maxime Lenik.

Neville at the Julien Fournie SS15 Paris Haute Couture show

As this show was scheduled just a few days after Neville's stint at Paris Menswear collections, part of my team, lead once again by my top man, Stephen Low, stayed on in the City of Lights, working and preparing for yet another Haute Couture hair-style challenge.

I've actually chosen the word 'challenge' very carefully here as working on the couture shows at world's most prestigious fashion event takes another set of skills and completely different mindset. When you are working for a couturier who is designing a 'one-off' creation, the hair-style and its execution is also a bespoke exercise. It requires a great belief on the part of a designer when it comes to choosing the right stylist and also the hair-team capable of following his vision.

It was also the greatest compliment for my team when we became an irreplaceable and very much integral part of the show’s creative process, in addition to working on some stunning, top-fashion editorial. For Julien Fournier's SS15 Haute Couture collection this is exactly what happened as my team was also part of the Madame Figaro feature as well as the 'behind-the-scenes' film a few weeks before the collection was finally unveiled in Paris.

The work with this fiercely talented French couturier also marks our third collaboration that famously started in Singapore in 2013 and continues to grow in every fashion-way-possible . Stay tuned for more updates on the subject as we've dreamt up a few delightful surprises that, in my opinion, take our partnership to another level.

As for the Paris show Stephen Low came up with the hair-style that was very much a couture creation for the couture show. Every single piece of hair was sourced, styled and fitted on 20+ models individually and for most of the models it happened when the call time was originally scheduled and that means four hours before the show. Still, there were a few who were double-booked with Stephane Rolland's team and came to be fitted with our crew less than an hour before the catwalk. These are the moments when you need to have a mature and truly capable team of hair-stylists who not only manage to perform the entire process ten times quicker but also succeed in calming down any potential model-designer-loyalty drama before it even starts.

The hair-look was half wild /half-structured and in-tune with Fournie's Egyptian references but with a modern twist. There was an inherent history but all the girls looked entirely modern and fresh which seems to be a prerequisite with haute couture collections these days. And that also applies to hair, which my team for this show has accomplished with a seamless perfection.

Until next time,

Elena

Neville Hair & Beauty team at SONGZIO AW '15 – our report from Paris Menswear…

Elena Lavagni on the Neville experience at SONGZIO…


SONGZIO AW15 Paris Menswear – and yet another call from the South Korean capital for a collaboration with my Neville team, caming so soon after our stint at the London Collections:Men. It was time again to get on to the international fashion week circuit and prove that my team was the right choice for the most renowned global designers, even when they come as far as the Far East.

The international work, whether it's editorials such as recent Vogue India, Harpers Bazaar Japan and Vogue China, plus all the global fashion weeks, including another sole Neville salon lead at Vietnam Fashion Week (Dec 2014) has strengthened not only my

team of stylists but also the Neville reputation as the right choice for international fashion shows. I'm proud to say that some international designers now work exclusively with my team and one them is the top Korean menswear designer, SONGZIO.

  

Ever since that 'perfect parting' Stephen Low and my stellar Neville team have done for SONGZIO at Singapore Fashion Week in 2013, this iconic designer (who we've also collaborated with in Vietnam recently) trusts our vision and styling prowess completely. As always with Mr Song, the look started with a number of sketches and this time the hair was a slight departure from his signature sleek and structured style. At the hair and make-up test, held at designer's beautiful apartment in Paris, we jointly came up with the description of 'romantic poet turned dashing Hollywood star' and Stephen Low even found a picture of Robert Redford in 'The Way We Were' (1975) to help to 'seal' the look visually for the designer.

Once again the casting for Songzio's show in Paris was superb. The models, all 16 of them, that we knew by name and birth-date by the time they'd lined up at Espace Pierre Cardin, were a total delight to work with. 

It's needless to say that when I saw the first model who opened the show I gasped...He looked exactly like Songzio's original drawing! 

Style wise it was that gentle hand-sweep that 'messed-up' the immaculately blow-dried hair. Very boyish and deeply romantic and on-par with Songzio's AW15 vision. The make-up was the mastery of Debbie Finnegan (above) and her super-efficient team that have been part of my ELSL stylist agency, specialising in hair and make-up professionals and their engagements, since its inception.  
http://www.elslmanagement.com/

Until next time,

Love,

Elena