London celebrity hairstylist, Thomas Taw flew into Auckland for a whirlwind visit in his role as an ambassador for Sunsilk Co-Creations and Thread met him for a bespoke hair up at Princes Wharf…
London celebrity hairstylist, Thomas Taw flew into Auckland for a whirlwind visit in his role as an ambassador for Sunsilk Co-Creations.
Thread met him for a bespoke hair up at the luxury apartment at Princes Wharf.
The Penthouse 5-bedroom suite on the tip of the wharf has a fold-around view of the harbour bridge, Rangitoto, Devonport and the Hilton. It was the perfect setting for the UK stylist to see the best of Auckland – the harbour- on a sunny day, albeit one he was inside working on.
Thomas had flown in from Sydney where he was hosting the Red Carpet afterparty and tomorrow he flies to Brazil to be hairstylist for a float in the Carnival. Before Sydney, he was in Russia, then Thailand. I ask if he bothers to even keep a house in England. "I got a flat last year" he says "but I haven’t even finished unpacking!"
Below: Tools of the trade and Sunsilk heat protection spray.
When he is back in England, Thomas says he enjoys being on the floor in his salon, and still works on client hair. In fact he prefers doing his ordinary clients to celebrities "and celebrities never want to pay!" His A-list database includes musicians, actors, and models – and now me! Clearly not a career highlight for him.
Thomas says there is no point in clients wanting to emulate a celebrity hairstyle perfectly as they will have a different face shape, different colouring, different hair and so on. Rather, he likes to create something that suits the individual, for the individual. "I’ll create a bespoke hairstyle for you" he tells me, squinting at my face shape before deciding on a side swept fringe and curled hair pinned up at the back.
The before photo: I arrive with cleanly washed hair with no product in it.
Jules Armishaw assisting with the hot tongs as Thomas starts clipping sections.
Hair curled and about to start the up-do.
Colours of hair under the Stars: The complete Sunsilk range lined up under a TV showing Oscars coverage.
Conducting his own orchestra with a sectioning comb.
Kitchen Confidential: MasterStylist becomes MasterChef as we take to the Penthouse kitchen as it has the most power sockets in the place.
A top knot sections hair up out of the way as he rolls the bottom hair and secures it in place with pins.
Continuing rolling small sections using his favourite hair pins that he found in a little store in Paris. He goes through enough to set off a metal detector at an airport.
Finished! We hit the deck. Thomas wears suit jacket by Mark Powell.
A magic day on Auckland harbour.
Ship ahoy!
I asked Thomas what his career highlights were. "I haven’t had them yet" he answered. With a career that already surpasses most of his peers and having achieved a hairstylist’s dream job, we look forward to seeing what he does next. It will have to be very impressive to make it onto this man’s shortlist.
I love the finished result, if only I had the Oscars to go to. I do have the opera tomorrow night, so I’ll have to sleep on it – pins and all!
By Megan Robinson 1 March 2011
Photography Helen Manson.
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