My work is synonymous with beauty. I’m more attracted to grace and femininity than quirkiness or edge.
Andrew Barton
“Prep for each look is vital to me and I’m a huge fan of using mousse in overloaded proportions to give me a fibrous texture. Using multiple layers of padding the hair was back brushed and folded to create this exaggerated dishevelled beehive-inspired look.” Andrew Barton
“The rockabilly girl quiff was a backlash against society values and the first nod towards unisex hairdressing – with the girls taking inspiration from the likes of Presley. Taking this iconic style and refreshing it here with back brushing to create a padded hair effect and gently pinning into a collapsed shape I wanted her to look like that she’d been out all night at the best party ever.” Andrew Barton
“Crimping is lost in hairdressing history, often betrayed cruelly as fancy-dress party de rigueur. Here I used crimpers randomly thought the hair to give a matted exaggerated texture that I could then push the hair into a mane like effect.” Andrew Barton
A unique exhibition outlining the history of hairdressing is making it’s debut at The Civic in Barnsley, UK.
In a first of it’s kind collaboration between distinguished celebrity hair-stylist Andrew Barton and leading fashion research consultant Donna Bevan, this exclusively curated exhibition will showcase key hairstyles and technological innovations from the 1950’s and beyond, examining the dual influence of fashion trends and popular culture on the hair sphere at large.
Aptly named ‘Beehives Bobs and Blow-dries’, the display – which features fantasy catwalk collections, iconic editorials and subcultural street styles – will guide voyeurs through the history of hairdressing, inviting attendees to consider a myriad of future possibilities.
Honouring the ever-evolving relationship between hairdresser and celebrity, ‘Beehives Bobs and Blow-dries’ will also examine the stars who have rendered a selection of revered looks eternally popular, with wigs, film, photography, historical imagery, products and styling tools offering multi-medium relics of hair-styles past.
In celebration of the February 2018 launch, Co-Curator and former British Hairdresser of the year, Andrew Barton created a collection of images with photographer Ram Shergill, each image canvassing a converse albeit characteristically beautiful aesthetic.
“Ram and I have wanted to work together for some time,” said Andrew of the pair’s creative partnership. “I knew that he would bring the glamour for which his work is associated with to this capsule collection of images. My work with photographers is a collaborative process and starts with a synergy of beauty ethos.”
“My work is synonymous with “beauty”,” he continued. “I’m more attracted to grace and femininity than quirkiness or edge. It’s important that as hairdressers that we all understand our own design ethos and this is important in selecting the other creatives that I work with.”
“These three looks are united in textural form and exaggerated shapes. Taking inspiration from some of the exhibition content, a beehive, a rockabilly quiff and crimped 70’s texture inspired the hair for me but what was key was to make the looks very now, with a modern twist, not dated.”
Beehives, Bobs & Blow-Dries will run from 17th February – 7th April 2018 at the Civic, before relocating to London. Visit: www.barnsleycivic.co.uk