These days, in fashion or hairdressing, it’s flexibility that matters. The people I meet with great personal style put themselves together in really interesting ways, experimenting with references they see in high fashion, in the galleries, film, music or even on the streets of Berlin or Japan. So of course, the categories of “couture” and “street fashion” don’t stand alone anymore – one is always influencing the other.

When we set out to create Spray de Mode, we wanted a hairdressing tool that offers this kind of flexibility on the catwalk (and sidewalk). Our inspiration started with traditional French hairdressing which celebrates, above all, great styling. We enlisted French hairdresser Laurent Philippon to fine-tune the hairspray over several seasons at the Paris shows. I was amazed to watch the other stylists put down their cans and pick up ours when they saw what he could do with it. You can brush it, tong it, crimp it, run your fingers through it

every five minutes, and it keeps its memory, which makes it magic backstage. We were shocked by how well it did.

For this photo shoot, we went to the streets of Los Angeles and found people with great personal style and pushed their look a bit further, creating the cast of characters you’ll see here. We worked with milliner Stephen Jones (a bit of a punk rocker himself), who makes these fantastic hats that pushed our characters into a fantasy world. It was a lovely transition to watch; they became larger than life. I want to encourage people to experiment, to entertain an alter ego, and Spray de Mode gives them that range to uncover their personal style. It’s what great hairdressing’s all about.

By Howard McLaren
VP, Senior Artistic Director
Bumble and bumble.