INTERVIEW
Up close and Personal: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
PR: Kate Moss – up close! Did aging, gravity and smoking get the best of her?
MARKI SHKRELI: Kate Moss is heaven. She looks just as beautiful in person as she does in photos.
PR: What is the new size? MARKI SHKRELI: The new it size for me is a girl who looks healthy in her own body. Arizona Muse to me looks very healthy and strong which is the 2 most important things a women should look.
PR: Was this your first time working for Chanel?
MARKI SHKRELI: This was my first time working for Chanel and it was a lot of fun.
PR: Who did you style there?
MARKI SHKRELI: I had helped style Ruby Aldridge hair. The hair was very classy and effortless.
PR: How was the after party?
MARKI SHKRELI: I didn’t end up going to the after party. Had the McQueen show after Chanel and was too tired to go out !
PR: PLS explain the hair at JPG! Ok, we might get the concept of gray hair, and that’s good … That was definitely one element of surprise at that show.
MARKI SHKRELI: The hair was JPG was amazing! The hair was human hair wigs colored hints of gray. It was a lot of fun putting on the wigs and transforming the girls looks. The girls all loved the wigs!
PR: How long prior to the show do you know which style you will be creating? Do you get all the information well in advance? Are there any last minute changes and drama?
MARKI SHKRELI: Normally there is 3-4 hours before the show in which we have the time to style the girls hair. We receive the information of the hair at the show. The key hairdressers for whose teams I work on such as Guido Palau or Sam Mcknight. They will go over the hair step by step how to achieve the look and the team will observe and follow the directions that the key hairdresser gave so that we know how to achieve the look correctly.
PR: Who has the best hair you’ve work with, out of all the big names?
MARKI SHKRELI: The best hair that i have ever touched was Isabelli Fontana and Alla Kostromichova. They have such nice beautiful thick hair.
PR: Does all the styling really damage the models’ hair, or are there some special tricks and techniques, to help them maintain it?
MARKI SHKRELI: The trick for the girls hair would be to get a trim every 4 weeks instead of every 6 and also use a great conditioning masque such as one of my favorite (Kiehl’s Olive Fruit Oil Deeply Repairative Hair Pak ) it leaves hair feeling silky soft.PR: Pony tails and Louis Vuitton – you can’t go wrong with that!
MARKI SHKRELI: The pony tails at Louis Vuitton were great! So sleek sexy. and powerful.
PR: Which models did you style for the show?
MARKI SHKRELI: I had help style the hair of Maryna Linchuk and Kirsi Pyrhonen.
PR: Out of all the big model names such as Anja, Freja etc, that you simply can’t miss specially at Balmain… who’s attitude and presence do you like?
MARKI SHKRELI: I love Freja. To me she is the definition of a Balmain girl. Effortlessly sexy, strong and beautiful.
PR: Well you worked on a lot of major shows this season… there must be anecdotes! Share some with us, please.
MARKI SHKRELI: Every show had some sort of anecdote for me. My friends know that I’m always very relaxed and always laughing. There was a person that looked like he was from the future so a friend of mine and I called him Future!
PR: Was is it Lady Gaga? HAHAHAH! We love Milan, it’s so sexy- sexy collections, luscious looks! What do you love about it?
MARKI SHKRELI: I love Milan’s collections too. It symbolizes Italian Women. Strong. Beautiful. Sexy. and Luscious.
PR: What show did you like the best there?
MARKI SHKRELI: In Milan I really liked Dolce and Gabbana because it was really 2 shows in one. The models were all amazing in it. Over 60 girls if I remember correctly!
PONY RYDER: What was inspiration for Dolce and Gabbana hairstyle?
MARKI SHKRELI: The inspiration of Dolce and Gabbana collection was from the editorial “Style Gangster” by Peter Lindbergh, in 1991 which had Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington.
PR: Dolce and Gabbana -as always.very sexy. We love their approach! There was the lady like style and the hmmmm boyish look.
MARKI SHKRELI: It was interesting how they divided the show into half women / half men and also even more interesting on how they choose which models would be the women and which would be the men.
PR: That is like the theme of the season. Mix the Lady with the butch. Which one is easier to achieve and maintain?
MARKI SHKRELI: The hair was fun to do for both. The theme was definitely Sicilian Women and Men.
The “Women” models had a low bun with a natural middle part and the hair sweeping away from the face and done so that it wasn’t over done. The “Men” models were very 1950’s Sicilian boys who would put a lot of grease in there hair and have a pompadour.
Both were very fun to do. The Women’s hair was easier to finish but took longer because the hair had to be blown out into a round brush set and then combed out.
The Men’s style was faster but if the girl had a lot of hair it wasn’t as easy as it looks to hide all the hair into a French twist making it really close to the head so that their hats would fit. The fun part of the Men’s hair style was giving the girls sideburns with there own hair and transforming them from women to boys.
PR: What is the best way to create luscious waves?
MARKI SHKRELI: The best way to create luscious waves is by applying a thickening spray and mousse to damp hair and blow drying the hair with a medium size round-brush and clipping in each section and left in until the hair is cool which is about 15 minutes. After taking out each section use a Mason Pearson brush and brush the hair softly all over to achieve very sexy wavy hair.
PR: Are bangs totally out? MARKI SHKRELI: I personally love bangs. It brings so much character with a girl that can pull them off. They are effortless and always look classy.
PR: What about the French bob? It was very popular sometime around 2005.
MARKI SHKRELI: The French bob is also very strong and sexy. I had seen Daria Pleggenkuhle (INTERVIEW HERE) at the Balmain show. She has a bob and it looked stunning on her.
PR: Your favorite girls this season!
MARKI SHKRELI: There were so many amazing girls this season I really can’t even narrow them down to a few. I would be here for hours talking about all of the beautiful women that I have seen this season.
PR: We never actually talked about curly hair. What can a girl do with a curly hair?
MARKI SHKRELI: I really like the product straight by bumble and bumble. It’s a great product that is used by applying to damp hair and also works well as a heat protector on the hair to protect if from the heat of the hair dryer. It really does a great job in battling the curl when blow drying the hair.
PR: Do any models have naturally curly hair? Anyone we know, who’s flat ironing the curls?
MARKI SHKRELI: Arizona Muse and Hanne Gaby have natural wavy hair. There waves are easily taken out by blow drying their hair with a round-brush.PR: Can you give some general hair maintenance tips for different hair textures.
MARKI SHKRELI: General tips for different hair textures are as followed, No matter which type of hair texture you have it is always important to follow basic rules. Always take care of your hair the best possible way which starts with the shampoo and conditioner. A great shampoo and conditioner will go a very long way in comparison to a cheap shampoo and conditioner. Also regular hair trims and a weekly conditioning masque for the girls are a must to maintain healthy beautiful hair.
PR: So Milan or Paris then?MARKI SHKRELI: Both Milan and Paris are amazing. But my heart belongs to Paris.
Photos by courtesy of Marki Shkreli