Editorial Updo Styling
Program Overview
Course Breakdown
- Photography fundamentals for hair: How camera angles, lighting, and lens choices affect hair presentation
- Sculptural construction methods: Building geometric shapes, creating cantilevers, using internal support structures
- Wet-look styling: Products and techniques for slicked, high-shine finishes
- Textural contrast: Combining smooth and rough elements in one style
- Deconstructed updos: Controlled messiness and piece placement
- Extreme volume techniques: Teasing, ratting, and shaping for dramatic height
- Incorporating accessories: Wire, mesh, fabric, flowers, and unconventional materials
- Color blocking with extensions: Adding graphic color elements
- Rapid restyling workflows: Timed exercises for backstage conditions
- Collaboration skills: Working with creative teams and interpreting mood boards
Students work on portfolio-quality styles suitable for submission to editorial publications.
Editorial work demands updos that photograph dramatically and complement avant-garde styling. These aren't styles clients wear to weddings—they're sculptural, sometimes gravity-defying, always interesting from every angle.
Building for the camera
Photography changes everything about how you construct hair. What looks perfect in person might read as flat or messy on camera. We work on creating shapes with dimension, using light and shadow to define structure. You'll learn which angles matter for different types of shoots and how to collaborate with photographers about hair placement.
The technical skills here include working with wet-look products, creating sharp geometric shapes, incorporating unconventional materials like wire or fabric, and building height that stays put during movement. We also cover deconstructed styles that look effortlessly undone but are actually engineered carefully.
Speed and adaptability
Fashion shoots move fast. You might have 15 minutes between looks, or the creative director might change the concept entirely. The program includes rapid restyling drills and techniques for modifying a base style into three different looks without starting over.
You'll also learn to protect hair health during multiple styling sessions and how to remove heavy products without damaging the model's hair.