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Week In My Shoes: A Day In The Life Of Richard Ashforth
Ever wondered what it’s like to be an International Creative Director for an amazing hair brand? Well spend a week with Richard Ashforth of Vidal Sassoon as he preps for a week of teaching.
Number of years in the business: 42
Richard’s advice:
There’s a David Bowie quote that's always stayed with me.
“If you feel safe in the area you're working in, you're not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place to do something exciting!”
Monday
Today’s the day! We’re launching the new collection as part of a full day seminar and many attendees have come from all over the world. One Italian delegate’s translator tells us that this is his 25th year attending and this year he’s brought his team of 9! It’s amazing to see this grow and grow every single year.
Tuesday
Today is the first of two International masters courses which give attendees ‘backstage access’ to the development of a collection. So much of the creative experimentation happens during this period, so it’s a rare opportunity to step inside the creative heart of Sassoon, where we share our thought processes, inspirations and techniques in an immersive, hands-on, intimate Atelier setting.
Wednesday
It’s day two of the International Masters course and today Mark Hayes and I are joined by Senior creatives Danielle Harvey and Edward Darley – I also have to run out to the Chinese Embassy to get my visa for a trip next week!
Thursday
Today we’re doing final prep and checks ahead of Salon International. We use over 200 models in the House during October, but fortunately we have a dedicated Instagram account @mysassoonhair that’s accumulated 85k followers so we have plenty to choose from!
Friday
I see some clients in the salon and catch up on some press quotes, picture edits and approvals for some exciting shoots we’ve got coming up. It’s also time for the final dress fittings and music checks for the launch on Sunday. I catch up with Zsolt Nagy about our upcoming photographic course in December; it’s three days of editorial styling and exploring the backstage secrets of creating great, camera-ready hair and it culminates in the creation of each delegate’s own editorial photograph – I’m really excited for this one!
Saturday
It’s a day of rehearsing and prepping the collection and then we’ve got a really exciting night planned. Noise is an idea that I came up with over 13 years ago; it’s a global underground event that celebrates hair, art and fashion. We’ve done it in over a dozen countries and tonight we’re bringing Noise to the 100 Club on Oxford St, London. There will be a DJ set from Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) as well as hair guests Mark Hayes, Giuseppe Stelitano, Tom Connell, Darren Ambrose and Jean Baptiste Santens.
Sunday
I head off to excel for the masterclass at Salon International. Mark and I kick off with a 25 minute cut presentation and discuss the inspirations behind this year’s looks. Next up is the colour team and then the Creative team, so it’s a really comprehensive visual feast! Afterwards we head to the press area to present the models and the ideas to the global press, before going to our stand to sign copies of the new collection books and ABC education manuals which have all been reshot as Gender Neutral.
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