WWDSalon caught up with two hairstylists—one from Rimini, Italy, the other from South London—to discuss their professional trajectories.
Born in the fragrant, picturesque hills of Emilia-Romagna, Franco Gobbi, 30, spent his early years cutting and coloring suntanned clients in his own salon in the beach town of Rimini. His career was kick-started when he moved to Milan nine years ago and got a gig for Italian Vogue. Last year, Franco moved to Paris.
WWD: What are you working on now?
Franco Gobbi: I just shot a campaign for Ermenegildo Zegna in Genova, Italy, and now I am in New York working on a project for Fly—a new fashion magazine, which is produced in DVD format. Then I’m off to L.A. for a shoot with German Vogue.
WWD: What are you inspired by right now?
F.G.: I love contemporary art. I admire Japanese photographer Araki and I also like Nan Goldin’s work. I think they make an interesting base of inspiration for fashion as they aren’t about fashion. Araki has taught me that working is not just about the financial aspect–that you need to find jobs that you want to do, that make you happy for your art.
WWD: What’s your worst job experience?
F.G.: Once a stylist tried to get me fired because he was so intent on bringing in his own team. You know the fashion business is like this: superficial, ugly, and all about power play. You have to have a strong personality and a strong belief in yourself to survive.
WWD: What surprises you most about this industry?
F.G.: That around 90 percent of the people who hold the positions of power in the fashion industry are lovely, hardworking people who still hold passion for their jobs. I once met Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue, and she knew my work, was familiar with what I had done. It was a surprise–I was happy about that.
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WWD: And the hardest thing about the job?
F.G.: Trying to balance a personal life with a professional one. You really have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot. It’s not that easy to keep a relationship going and have children in this job. I am always traveling.
WWD: Where do you see yourself in five years?
F.G.: I don’t want to go back to salon work, but I’d like to have a life that’s a bit more stable. It’s my dream to buy a house on the beach somewhere, but it has to be near an airport so I can travel easily to jobs. I’d love to get married and start a family, that would make me happy, and my mother happy, too.
Zoe Irwin grew up in South London where locals refer to a hairdo as a “barnet.” Irwin, 38, has clocked nearly two decades as a hairstylist, but broke through to backstage when she was 29, as an assistant under the guidance of Guido
Palau. Nowadays, Irwin, with her blonde locks, can be found working backstage at London shows, or prepping the tendrils of a model’s hair on a far-flung beach.
WWD: What is your best backstage story?
Zoe Irwin: I had just started working for Guido, and he took me straight away with him to Paris for the Givenchy show, which at the time was being designed by Alexander McQueen. I was absolutely terrified. We had been making wigs—I had been working on one for three days—and we showed it to McQueen and he didn’t like it. So, we were kicking it around the courtyard in frustration. Then he asked to see it again to reconsider it.
WWD: How hard is it to make it in this industry?
Z.I.: It’s difficult. This season I will be doing my own shows with my own team, but it’s not like you go straight to Prada. It’s very difficult as a woman session stylist. I have a life and I don’t want to take myself to New York for six months to ruin that.
WWD: What did Guido teach you that resonated the most?
Z.I.: He is incredibly intelligent. He told me to always think about the character of the girl you are working on and how she stands, what brand of cigarettes she smokes and what she drinks. He taught me to know my fashion references. You have to know that a woman in the Sixties didn’t like to show her ears, and how a chignon in the Fifties was different in Milan compared with Paris.
WWD: What was your worst moment on the job?
Z.I.: Recently, I had to do a shoot for Grazia in about 100 degrees on a beach in England. It was a winter story and the hair was in a chignon and the model had curly hair. She was sweating and it was going frizzy at the roots. We had to walk half a mile to be able to blow-dry it. Nightmare! Also, I’ve had models cry on me because they’ve been up all night at fittings.
WWD: What are your hair weapons?
Z.I.: My brushes, from Italy. And my Parlux hair dryer.
WWD: Where do you see yourself in the next couple of years?
Z.I.: I really want to do my own product line. I think there’s room for a girly hair care line that’s modern-chic like some of the makeup brands out there.
WWD: What’s the biggest surprise you’ve discovered about this industry?
Z.I.: That all the top hairdressers are real and they get nervous, too. I remember I was onstage once with Trevor Sorbie and he got just as anxious as I did.