Hectic life of an international hair-stylist

Louise Pilkington has a dream career as a hair stylist for international fashion shows, and magazine shoots. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

The hair-styling teams at international fashion weeks perform like pit-stop mechanics at a Formula One race. Armed with dryers, clips and rollers, the stylists make lighting changes on models' locks before they take to the runway.

On the international fashion circuit, Guido Palau heads a winning team and for the past year Louise Pilkington has been at his side.

The award-winning Ponsonby Servilles director is in Milan working on fashion shows for Prada, among others, and her next stop is Paris Fashion Week.

Before she left, Pilkington gave Viva an insider's look into this exclusive club with a backstage photo album that name-drops a string of fashion icons.

"Everybody agrees this is just one of the best photos they've ever seen of Donatella," Pilkington says. "The team were saying she was in her best form and she did look incredibly fit and healthy."

Could be something to do with the stylists constantly trailing her. Someone of this calibre has a devoted following, and Pilkington was impressed when all the designer's staff came to the wrap party wearing "Donatella Forever" T-shirts.

There's always a good measure of hard slog and a dollop of serendipity in any success story and Pilkington's story is no exception.

"It's always been my dream to head or work on a hair team. I've lived and breathed it for 17 years and I'm finally here."

For the past 10 years, Pilkington has been director of Servilles in Ponsonby, with a full-time staff of 25 and a loyal clientele. The stylist made her reputation at local shows before Redken New Zealand invited her to work at last year's New York Fashion Week.

The 35-year-old stylist bumped into two fellow New Zealanders at the show. They hooked her up with their agent and she ended up working alongside ex-pat Snowdon Hill, stylist for the past nine years on Guido Palau's dream team.

"I was always talking to my staff about him because he's a real inspiration to me. He's Guido's right-hand man and he was encouraging me to join the team."

Palau is an A-list stylist, which means he gets to work on glossy magazine shoots, glam advertising campaigns and international fashion shows.

A combination of Hill's influence and an impressive CV gained her a place on Palau's London-based team of 12 stylists, which swells to about 22 for international shows.

But at first meeting, Pilkington confused the elfin stylist with one of the help.

"This guy comes in with sloppy hair and a scruffy face. He just looked like this kid, a groovy dude. Next thing he's giving Donatella a hug and suddenly I click that it's Guido."

It turns out that Palau is a regular guy with a wicked sense of humour - and no patience for stars' tantrums.

"He is an incredibly focused man. There's no time for egos or mucking around. He's in there to do a job and so are you. He's very straight about that."

While in New York, Pilkington helped Palau on a photo shoot for Paris Vogue with famed photographer David Sims. Oh, and the model was none other than film director Sofia Coppola.

Then there was a studio shoot with Mario Testino, photographer to the stars, and a line-up of glittering fashion shows - Jean Paul Gaultier, Prada, Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton.

"All my hairdressing career, one of the things I loved is the animation of the shows; the models going down the catwalk and the hype of it all."

Pilkington compares hair styling to architecture and the snaps from the recent Alexander McQueen show in Paris prove this is no grandiose claim.

McQueen had dispensed with the catwalk and put the audience in a Lewis Carroll-esque Wonderland. The models acted as chess pieces on a giant chessboard and Guido's team were charged with securing towering headpieces on the outlandish bouffants of the regal players.

Once anointed backstage you're suddenly twirling the locks of top model Karen Elson and swapping tips with makeup legend Pat McGrath. Pilkington says it's incredibly exciting to be surrounded by the best but there's little time for idle chatter.

One of the hardest things is blow-waving extensions when you're under time pressure. But that was nothing compared with the heart-stopper of being left in charge of the Miu Miu show in Milan.

"It was a little bit surreal that Miuccia Prada is standing there checking the clothes and I'm standing there checking the hair," Pilkington says. My heart was just going bang-bang."