Guido Palau quotes:
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I'm very lucky that I've worked mainly with two amazing photographers in David Sims and Steven Meisel.
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Every culture to me - be it Asian, African, be it whatever - is a source of reference. I don't think I'm 'stealing' it or anything.
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I took Instagram off my phone! I took it off because I found I was looking at it too much.
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Beautiful things are different.
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I got into hairdressing and moved from Dorset to London, where I got an apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon. This was around '83 or '84. I was working on South Molton Street, which was then the epicenter of all the shops. It was like a catwalk. So I did my apprenticeship there, but I wasn't successful.
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All hair is away from the face - there's no emotion and all of the personality is taken away. I envisioned the way a 'virtual girl' is drawn in a cartoon. Then I added these different colored extensions - white, red and black, which adds to the synthetic feeling of the hair. I used colors which looked most dramatic against each of the models' real hair. The different colors give you that pop of fakeness so we're not talking about reality. Like a futuristic princess.
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As the older ones, to understand that it is a different time, and young people look at fashion in a different way . . . It's just different. If we harp on about it, they'll feel like we're just old fuddy-duddies, so I just kind of get on with it. I still feel I've got things to say.
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Even though the industry is very big and there's lots of money, when it gets down to it, whether it's a photographer or a designer, as well as a stylist or makeup artist, you're really only working with maybe four or five people on a project. It's all quite small and intimate.
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Everyone has an opinion and I think we're at a time which is very heated all over the world, so of course people will speak out. And they have every right to.
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Fashion is emotional, and the way women look at it is emotional, so it's very important to try to connect with a woman's idea of how she might feel.
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Fashion now is just so confusing. It doesn't feel as easy. Fashion seems to be in a much more eclectic place.
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Fashion was a very insider industry then - it was very closed. So I didn't really know what I wanted to do.
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I celebrate every culture. I love the mix of cultures and I'm never going to change that because that's inspiring to me.
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I didn't do great in school. I didn't have many options. I mean, I'd like to have gone to art college, but I didn't have the grades. I didn't have any qualifications. But I had some friends who were hairdressers, so I just thought, Well, I'll have a go at it.
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I didn't know I wanted to be a hairdresser. I was always interested in fashion and imagery in a very naive way, but it was always an attraction, like glitter balls.
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I have a total complex [because of my curls], though, because I got teased a lot as a kid.
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I haven't got a good reputation with pain.
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I like hair that's been 'worn in' because it's much easier to deal with.... I actually don't like it when [models] come in with this beautiful, thick, glossy hair. I think, Oh, no! I can't do a thing with this!
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I must say, Gisele's [Bundhen] got some of the best hair I've ever touched.
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I think it's more funny how every bit of information is up for grabs.
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I think now because of this whole social media thing, people obviously felt these things [about cultural appropriation] before, and they comment on everything.
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I think to many people, textured curls still signify 'difference.' And kids like to pick on what's different.
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I try to be aware of technology and Japanese animation and old Belgian paintings, and get all my references from bits of everywhere.
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I used to get defensive and react. Like you, I get pushed and pulled [backstage].... Sometimes people are rude to me, and I feel like, 'You know, guys, I'm just here trying to do my job....' And the reality is, everyone else is just trying to do their job...and sometimes they get on a power trip [and] you feel disrespected. But that's their problem. It's not my problem.
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I used to have more meltdowns backstage than I do [now].... It's not that it was ever cool, but right now, it just seems very uncool to have a meltdown. I'm not saying I'll never have one! But I've learnt to stop it just before it happens.
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I was building my work, and it took me a long time. For a good five or six years I was just kind of bobbing around, doing everything and anything.
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I worked at a bunch of other salons, and at one, this girl was going out to do a photo shoot for a women's magazine and brought me along to assist her. I remember going on that shoot and thinking, "God, this is great. It's creative, and you get to work with all of these other creative people." At that point I decided that hair would be my in to fashion and all the things I thought I would enjoy - and did enjoy.
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I'm not giving up on my work. I'm still trying to challenge people's aesthetics and myself.
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I'm not saying that everything I do is always tasteful - and maybe it's not always the normal idea of beauty - but hopefully it's always an empowering idea.
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It's hard to be shocking now. It's hard to challenge people because the Internet has allowed everyone to become much more worldly, much more visual. It's very hard to surprise people.
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People comment, and that's where we are now. It's the way the world is.
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Someone might say that's a naïve way of looking at things now, and I would respect their opinion, but I also respect every woman's right to wearing her own individual style, including hair.
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Suddenly it was cool to have your hair lank . . . It was a whole different way of looking at things, and it shook up the whole industry.
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The Brits always favor the underdog. There's an eccentricity to us, and I think you can see that through the fash- ion and the music and the way people look.
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To be a good hairdresser, you have to understand what the vision is of the designer or the photographer and then sort of add your thing.
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When I think of the people I've worked with, all of them have great passion, and the passion is what keeps people inspired.
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When you look back at your career, there are moments that are levels that you hit and you bounce off them.
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When you respect somebody who has talent, whether it's a designer or a photographer, then you don't want to let yourself down - but you also really don't want to let them down.
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When you work with great people, you learn - about film, about clothing, about life, about sex.
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With Steven Meisel, I'd looked at his work from afar and always loved it, and when I started to work with him, I was blown away. He taught me so much about looking at women and looking at images.
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You may say, 'That's naïve of you,' and maybe it is, but in my mind, I'm celebrating every kind of woman. That's what a creative person does.
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Beauty shouldn't be taken too seriously. Life is stressful enough! Hair should be creative and crazy.
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I worked in salons, where you do learn the basic sort of thing. But I didn't know anything about the kinds of things I'm doing now. I learned how to put hot-rollers in.