Long before a fashion show comes under the arclights, a team of hairstylists and makeup artists is on the job, meeting designers, attending fitting sessions and working on dummies, says Ambika Pillai. But the celebrity hairstylist rues that people backstage don’t get their due.
“For a show, our team consists of 18 to 20 skilled staff members. I get my list of designers two weeks before a fashion week. Fittings start five days before the show,” Pillai, a Kerala native who has been in the hairstyling and makeup business for 11 years, told IANS.
“I make sure I attend all fitting sessions because I get to see clothes, discuss the concept with designers and freeze a look for the show. If it’s complicated to finalise a look, I invite designers at my salon and work on a model or a dummy to get the right look,” she said.
But she admits that people backstage don’t get recognition.
“It’s not just makeup teams that don’t get credit; there are so many people backstage that put in their 100 per cent for the shows, but never get attention. Like they say, the show must go on and we strive to have a good week without anything going amiss,” said Pillai, who has been part of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week for years.
–Agencies