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Richard Kavanagh
Hair there and everywhere
http://portfolio.richardkavanagh.com
in 1984 as a young punk surfer from the north shore of auckland i had a life changing experience.
i had a haircut. and colour.
more perfunctory than life changing you might say...
after hearing about the delicate but perfectly predictable balance of chemistry, biology, anatomy, geometry and art that is hairdressing, i was sold.
that moment, i knew without a shadow of doubt that i was going to be a hairdresser.
it was in my bones, and, i was later to find out it was in my blood. my grandmother was a milliner in the 1940s and i seem to have inherited some of her eye for shapes and beauty...
after leaving high school, i secured an apprenticeship in auckland with one of australasia's toughest task masters. the main thing i learned from her was never to stop learning.
being impetuous and impatient as a child i dropped out of my apprenticeship before it was completed only to go work in an old fashioned barbershop. where i learned all about the importance of shape and working quickly.
after a decade or so of honing my skills at various salons and local fashion shows i started to enter hairdressing competitions. i was lucky. i managed to be placed or win most of the events i entered including the l'oreal colour trophy (twice) and new zealand hairdresser of the year amongst numerous other regional and national awards.
it was during this period that i started to develop a passion and an eye for doing hair for photographic images. it was the perfect blend of fashion, craft, art and teamwork.
i became known amongst new zealand's fashion crew for creating strong shapes, very quickly while making sure that the women looked beautiful. and after more than fifteen years on set i've learned a trick or two
fashion shows were always an important part of my profession and as a result of the awesome leadership training i received from US haircare giant redken i have been able to lead large teams of stylists to successfully translate my vision for the designer into newsworthy runway styles. and we never hold the show up. never...
because of guido palau i have had the huge privilege of working as a hair assistant for several seasons on the ready to wear shows in milan, paris and new york. guido directs the hair for prada, versace, marc jacobs, calvin klein, alexander mcqueen, yves saint laurent and about 30 other global fashion houses. guido is regarded as the most conceptual hair stylist of our times and i'm honoured to be a part of his team.
i am now based in sydney, australia, represented by the lovely folks at dolores lavin management (dlm) and travel all over the planet for work.
i am the global creative director for rodney wayne, new zealand's largest salon group with 65 outlets including their shampoo'n'things retail outlets.
i love hair. i love doing hair. most of all i love being paid for doing hair.
i am extremely lucky to have a career that fills me with passion, enthusiasm, creativity, fun and people and that continues to set new challenges for me after more than two and half decades.
i hope to work with you soon
rk
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