We spoke to Josh to find out the inspiration and creative process behind the couture colour showcased at Mary Katrantzou's Autumn/Winter 2019 London Fashion Week show, hosted at Coutts Garden Court last night...
"I have loved Mary’s use of colour since her first collection - so it was a joy to work with her and Anthony Turner on this show. Mary had a really clear idea of what she wanted me to create and gave me fabric samples as inspiration - it was amazing to be able to bring the fabric to life with our 'Clouds' technique; soft blended elemental tones, that contrast against the natural hair colour of each girl. "
What is the inspiration for the show's hair colours - do your looks have names, or special techniques?
Mary has sectioned the collection off into four worlds, each one having a relationship to the four elements; earth, wind, fire and water. We’ve created two patterned hair techniques specially for the show, called ‘Colour Clouds’ and ‘Horizon Colour’.
‘Colour Clouds’ is where we combine a centre of intense colour that blurs and blends out to the palest colour on the edges. These were added to girls that have a light hair base, as this technique works best on dark blondes and lighter shades.
...But it didn't work on brunette shades. On the darker girls, we’re creating a ‘Horizon Colour’, whereby extensions are coloured dark at the root - be it ink, emerald green, or purple violet - and fade out in a reverse ombre to a paler end.
What colours did you use for the models?
We firstly separated the models by their natural hair colour, and then by using these two techniques in a rainbow of colours; sea foam, cloud, morning dew, sky blue, cracked earth, sunset coral and dawn pink. They're fresh, modern 'festival tones'.
Can you tell us more about how you matched all the elements together?
At the fitting we had prepared both 'Colour Clouds' and 'Horizon Colour' in several shades, and worked with makeup artist Lynsey Alexander to see how the relationship with the hair could work with the colours in the collection, and in the products used on their faces. For the hair, we used Redken City Beats to create the vibrant emerald greens, pale blushes and deep iris colours you see.
Could these looks work on the high street, not just high end?
We're creating patterned hair - you would be able to play with different pastel tones to create a pattern at home, with temporary colours, but if you wanted this exact colour, it's definitely a salon job. But if you wanted to try it with a temporary colour on naturally light hair it could be fun - you can make pastels as permanent or as fleeting as you like.
'Colour Clouds'; backstage photos by Clement Leon Mogensen, hair styling by Anthony Turner.
Take a peak behind the scenes...