“I like very minimal and simple work. I feel like it is a stronger look.”
Vera Mai does beautifully precise and tasteful hair, and it should be in front of as many eyes as possible. We asked her to pick a favorite photograph of her work. This is a brief interview, a taste, an olive branch, so that we can get much, much, more from her in the future.
Vera: Hi Clint
Well, I love this image, it’s from my British hairdressing collection and it was just evolving from my last collection. I wanted to keep the style very simple and clean. I like minimal looks and I think this reflects my style.
LH: How did it evolve? Where did the idea come from?
Vera: The first collection I did, i was using a lot of elastic, white paint, and white hair pieces. These were ideas I have had for a while, but I was trying to put them into a collection that flows, so I decided to do a shoot with just the back of the models head. This was to save money on models, and it is amazing sometimes to see what comes from working with a great team and a small budget. It forces you to think outside of the box, to get the most out out what you have.
Vera’s first collection:
LH: When you are developing an idea or concept, are there any methods you have? Drawings, etc?
Vera: Mainly, my inspiration comes from what fashion is doing. I love designers and how they work with different textures and shapes, and I try to interpret this in the hair and collections I do. Using paint and elastic adds a different texture in the hair.
LH: Your work is very precise and technical, have you always been a technical hairdresser?
Vera: No, I used to work for Toni & Guy and Saks, so my work has been very soft, but I feel as I grew older, my style matured and I now have found my style. I like very minimal and simple work. I feel like it is a stronger look .
LH: Where did you find the idea for the white paint and the white string?
Vera: The paint idea was based on how to use colour in the hair with out colouring it. It was about the same time when hair chalk was first around, but what i didn’t like about the hair chalk was how dry it looked. I was at an arts and crafts shop with a friend one day and was asking the shop assistant what paint I could use on hair that will wash out, She gave me a funny look and said “no one has asked me that before “.
She said to use water based paints, so I bought a load of colors and started playing around, it was fun. I decided to use the white paint in my hair collection because I love the contrast on the black & white images.
With the elastic, well, we use it all the time and we always try and hide the elastic when we put hair up. I was just using it as a feature instead, and then it evolved from there, really .
Follow Vera here: @mai_ha2