For the duration of the Elite Model Look National Casting + Final, it was an absolute pleasure to have been joined by the Billy and Bo forces, who were always on hand to ensure our beautiful models had impeccable hairstyles and were groomed to an absolute perfection! With Billy and Bo salon situated in the heart of West End and whilst being a big hit with fashionistas and celebrities across London, the hair styling team delivered the latest hair trends and impressive styles that transformed our boys + girls into top supermodels!
We caught up with Billy and Bo's creative director Vas Karpetas to talk to him about Elite Model Look 2012, fashion, London, and of course, hair - and lots of it!
Elite: In one sentence Vas - what do you do?
Vas: I am a hairstylist; I work in the fashion industry and I am an educational director of Habia Japan, a hair training company based in Japan. I also have my own salon.
E: How does one get to such high level of hairdressing?
V: Well it all started about 10 years ago when I was an art-director at a large company, and after that I became self-employed and wanted to dive further into the fashion industry. Everyone has to start off by assisting bigger, more successful hairdressers at the time and by doing that you build up your own portfolio, which then helps you getting signed with an agency and then eventually start getting advertising and editorial work.
E: What is the best thing about your profession?
V: I would have to say that each day is different – because I am a people’s person, I enjoying dealing with all kinds of different people. Having a good team around me also keeps me fresh with the latest fashion and hair trends - I get inspiration from them every single day. It’s the people that really keep me going... And of course, the creativity! I also run the salon and work on editorials, advertising, fashion shows... It’s a nice variety. And having the salon situated in the heart of West End means that we are in the middle of everything that’s going on. It’s refreshing!
E: What would you say is the biggest hair trend this season?
V: Currently the most requested styles have to be rockabilly quiffs and victory rolls. Couple of years ago, messy hair was in and now everything is becoming more groomed with a 40s-feel side partings and aggressive disconnections. Few years ago we saw a lot textures, whereas now they are becoming very graphic, more structured, and I don’t know if you noticed, but a lot of the guys around London are seen to be more dressed up now – it’s all going back to the old-time classic looks: shiny and polished. Even hair gel has come back - for many years we were all using matt wax, and now everyone wants shine in their hair!
E: What types of products would you use to achieve those styles?
V: We use Bumble and Bumble products, so the most used and requested product for the guys is ‘Sumowax’ and ‘Sumotech’, whereas for the ladies we have this amazing ‘Hairdressers Invisible Oil’ that’s just come out, which is really good for prepping the hair.
E: How do you and the team ensure you keep up with the current trends?
V: For me, current trends are best achieved from observing people; I love people watching – whether it is on the tube, Brick Lane, Columbia Road Flower Market, and all those cool places where you get a lot of the youngsters who are quite creative. Trends tend to derive from the streets that have no influence from the celebrity culture. We all know that once certain trends are publicised on celebrities, they then trickle down to the general public and EVERYONE is wearing them.
Also my team are very good because they’re all into fashion and are in keeping with the latest trends and observant of what’s cool on the streets, so in that respect I believe that majority of hair trends come from the salons where the stylists push boundaries with their clients and thus create new styles.
E: What do you think of this year’s Elite Model Look finalists?
V: You’ve good some really beautiful girls and cool guys there! From my experience, it is always interesting working on shows and during the fashion week when you get a new set of girls that are perhaps less experienced and they get all excited about getting their hair done... The choice of girls this year is really good – I can only imagine the judges having a really hard time choosing their winner, because in my opinion - everyone was so beautiful! And it is so fresh to see a new wave of models that have never been in front of the camera before and you can follow their progress throughout the competition.
E: What was the idea behind the girls’ simple, clean ponytails at the Elite Model Look National Casting?
V: The thing with new faces and girls that are not known to the industry, the whole purpose was to expose the entire face and the bone structure. Putting the hair in a ponytail does just that and it takes the hair of the model’s faces so the judges can easily see their features. For that particular purpose, it’s not all about the hair styling but what the girl actually looks like. But then again, we did tailor the hair up individually to each girl – some suited having their hair combed back, whereas some suited a side or centre parting, but essentially they all served the same purpose and that was to reveal the girls’ faces.
E: What would you recommend for keeping models’ hair healthy after shoots and show season, because as we all know, their hair gets damaged from all the heat and consistent styling?
V: I would definitely advise models to use a leave-in hair conditioner, for instance in our salon we use this excellent Bumble and Bumble ‘Leave in (rinse out)’ conditioner that instantly nourishes the hair and adds moisture. But from my experience, I would strongly advise girls to get their hair trimmed every six weeks. I understand that girls that do advertising can’t change their hair drastically, but even half-an-inch off every six weeks keeps the hair healthy and gets rid of the split ends and dead hair. You know, when the hair is gone – it’s gone. It needs to be cut.
E: Hair types differ from person to person – and model to model. How important would you say it is to use the right hair products specially designed to suit one’s hair type?
V: It is very important to get the right product for any particular hair; there is a reason why there’s different products designed for various hair types, and if you wish to get the desired effect then using the right product is the key, as well as keeping the hair supple and easy to maintain. For example, clients with very fine hair will need to use thickening spray, whereas if the same product will only make the hair bigger and more unmanageable if used on someone with coarse hair.
E: Would you say that working in the salon is different to working on the shows and fashion shoots?
V: It’s all very different; shows are all about the styling and the lighting, and a lot of the time hair that is created for the catwalk is very rarely recreated in the salon. The difference with salons is that people will be wearing those looks every day and on shoots and fashion shows, the models will wear that particular style only for that moment in time and as soon as they’re out the door – the hair goes down.
Also, there’s this big preparation that goes on before the show and when it comes down to it, it’s done in 5 minutes. Whereas, when the clients get their hair done in the salon it has to last them at least 6 weeks. Actually – it’s totally different!
E: One would assume that styling men is far easier than styling girls – would you agree?
V: I probably would say that styling girls is more creative; styling boys can far more difficult, especially nowadays that the youngsters are getting far more fussy and particular with their hair now that we have the whole 80s fashion coming back, and as a hair stylist it can be tricky to get to get it right because there is not much variations to work with. With girls you have more hair to work with and artful make up which complete the looks, therefore it is easy to push the boundaries and be more creative.
E: Is there a certain time period or style icon you look to for inspiration?
V: I personally love Dita Von Teese for the reason that she brought that beautiful burlesque-y feel and finger waves back… I think she’s quite amazing to get inspiration from – her look is timeless and wearable and I often see people wearing it out on the streets. However, I still believe that people-watching and just generally being observant of what people are wearing & how they wear it is the best way to get inspired. Even the power of Instagram and Twitter has now enabled us to see and share information, and that is inspiring in itself.
E: You have worked all over the world, what do you like about London?
V: As a Greek guy coming from Athens, I think that London is the best city in the world - whether it’s regarding music, fashion, theatre, architecture, clubbing… If you work in the creative industry, you simply have to experience London. I call it the addictive city – you leave and all you want to do is go back! I’ve been living here for 17 years now and it is my home now. My heart goes out to London.
E: What are some of your favourite looks you’ve created?
V: My favourite hairstyles that I’ve created over the years would definitely have to be finger-waves – and using a very old-fashioned technique of setting the hair with rollers and heat for at least an hour to an hour-and-half. Big, sexy curls and finger-waves are my definite favourite styles that I used to do.
E: And finally, what makes you happy about the world of fashion and beauty?
V: It’s always different; it keeps us fresh & young – a world without fashion, beauty and music would be a boring place! A lot of people play it safe, but changing image is fun. And why not – that’s what the clothes and hair are for! You hear people saying, “oh I don’t ever want to cut my hair short” and I’m like, well why not? It’s hair – it’ll grow again! I think that there are two types of people in this world, the creative kind and those who play it safe; I prefer not to be safe – it’s what makes a person interesting.
