Salon Peachy Exclusive: Guido, Redken Creative Consultant Chats With Peachy Deegan
Growing up in Dorset, England, Guido was always inquisitive about style and inspired by fashion and beauty magazines featuring the works of notables such as Barry Lategan, Bruce Webber and Dutch hairstylist Christian whose freestyle approach pushed boundaries of his time. It was during the early eighties when subculture movements like New Wave, Indie and Goth co-existed and shaped a creative set that changed hair trends in cutting and coloring. All this, sparked Guido’s interest in hairdressing. Guido began training at Vidal Sassoon in London in 1983, then worked at the Clifford Stafford salon and eventually hooked up with David Sims who was an assistant photographer at the time. From their collaborations, he discovered his eye and love for hair in fashion.
Now, Guido is considered to be one of the world’s most conceptual hairstylists. Having a strong presence in the industry for over 20 years, Guido has brought his radically expressive style to runway shows, fashion advertising campaigns and editorial work for such noted magazines as American, Italian and French Vogue, W and Allure.
Guido’s artistic and technical design skills led him to partner with Redken as the brand’s Creative Consultant in 2005. Since then, he has worked hand-in-hand with Redken, providing seasonal hair trends, acting as a brand ambassador at editorial photo shoots and fashion shows, representing Redken in the media, and creating key looks for Redken campaigns.
His client roster includes A-list designers like Prada, Versace, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Jean Paul Gaultier, Miu Miu, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Donna Karan, Louis Vuitton, and Robert Cavalli. He works regularly with renowned photographers including, Steve Meisel, David Sims, and Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott.
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Peachy Deegan: What city has the best hair of people attending the shows?
Guido: Every city I visit has it's own individual style, for example the New Yorkers are blown and easy, the Italians are very 'done,' the Londoners are eccentric and a little crazy, and the Parisians are simple and chic and I love all of them for their unique individuality.
Do designers give you free reign of what you do with hair during the show or is it a dictatorship or negotiation?
It's a collaboration, we all work together to make the look happen.
What were some of the most unusual requests you have received for runway hair?
Nothing really seems that unusual anymore
If you were stranded on a desert island and could only pick 5 Redken products (or Pureology) to take with you in unlimited supply, what would they be and why?
Redken forceful 23 super strength finishing spray, thickening lotion 06 body builder, spray starch 15 versatile ironing spray, glass 01 smoothing serum, rootful 06 root lifting spray
What should most people know and understand about hair that most do not?
It's hair, not heart surgery experiment and have fun!
