“EVERY TIME WE DO IT, WE GET BETTER”

As Fashion Week season comes to an end, Most Wanted Men’s Hair Specialist, Tariq Howes, lifts the lid on his textured hair work at Vetements A/W24 as part of Jody Taylor’s team…

Photography by Harry Miller (@leftgoesright)

I first met Jody Taylor about seven years ago. We messaged each other about doing a skills swap. We just got on, like someone you’ve known your whole life. He started to ask me to assist him on shoots, to help with textured hair and that’s how I got my first lead shoot.

Jody got the call for the Vetements job because he had cut co-founder Guram Gvasalia’s hair when he was a student in London years ago. Gary Gill had been doing the show with the creative director Demna Gvasalia (Guram’s brother) and Guram was more behind the scenes, and then Demna took Gary with him to Balenciaga. Jody invited me to be on the team, and that’s how we started the job. We’ve done every season since, about six in all.

It’s brutal, there’s so much going on. Guram oversees everything in such a great way, because he’s so particular. He doesn’t just come over and give the lead hairstylist what he wants and then leave. It’s more that every model is their own character. So, it’s a hair test with every single one, and if you’ve got 70 models, that’s 70 different characters – you have to be really creative. We go there a week before; it’s basically one big hair test up until the day of the show!

It can all change once they try outfits on, too. You’ll have one model sorted, and then someone else comes in who suits that look better, and then you need to find them a different look and the hair must be totally different. Sometimes we’re there until 3am. You almost reach breaking point, and then it all comes together. Whatever the pressure and stress, it seems like every time we do it, we get better. We always feel proud of the overall look.

“We go there a week before; it’s basically one big hair test up until the day of the show!”

With the textured hair looks, Guram often likes something drastic or skinhead short! He always seems to want us to shave the hair off or do something crazy. So, I now know these boys and sometimes they’ve been gutted it’s had to be shaved off. Often I’m like, “Listen, let’s try and do some mad shapes without cutting hair”. On this show I suggested to Guram a Mohawk type, pointy cone, almost like a Troll doll (pictured, right). I’d already done one or two other boxy, flat tops and he loved those shapes. He trusted me. If I’d suggested that idea before, he might have thought it sounded weird.

I blow-dried it all, combed it out, shaped it and netted it; Jody and Nick (Barford) thought it looked sick. The model was like, “Thank you for not cutting my hair!”. It was rather punky and I dropped it forward a bit as well, to give him shape at the front. Imagine someone from ‘The Lost Boys’. Guram really loved it, and he said I’d really pushed it, I was crazy this season! It was nice to hear that. To be able to gather all the stuff I’ve been doing – travelling and assisting other people – I’ve learned more to take back and help be better and stronger for Jody and the team.

@tariqhowes