La Favorite by Alexis Ferrer: the birth of a new hair language
Alexis Ferrer has managed to surprise and excite half of the world with a collection, La Favorite, through an innovative technique of photographic printing on hair. The project has gained applause and recognition in the sector both nationally and internationally.
Alexis Ferrer created, for the first time in the history of hairdressing, a photographic print on hair in 2012. At that time Wella Professionals —he’s Global Creative Artist of the brand— asked him if he could do a show at the International Trend Vision Awards 2012. The idea was to interpret one of the collections, Echo, that the firm would launch in the market. That collection offered a trip into the innermost and darkest part of people, showing anguish, fear or loneliness. Inspiration came from painters like Escher, designers like Alexander McQueen, and horror movies like The Shining and Hitchcock’s Psycho.For this reason, Ferrer believed that it was best not to show the face of the models, a face that is usually pretty, pleasant and full of nuances, and to use the hair as a reflection of the interior of the person. Pictures of the female protagonists of the mentioned films were taken and imprinted on hair. The aim of the show was to innovate with a technique never used in hairdressing, and photographic printing on hair seemed the ideal way to represent a story in a graphic and impressive way.To achieve optimum quality printing on hair, several months of testing and trials were required. To allow hair to adapt to the movement of the model as she walked, so that viewers could always contemplate the photograph, the hair extensions were fixed with a net. The models paraded with their faces camouflaged by hair, in which the photographic printing technique was applied, exaggerating their way of walking, emulating the panic and suspense of horror films.
Five years later, on the runway at 080 Barcelona Fashion Week 2017, Alexis Ferrer collaborated with the designer Txell Miras creating extensions with black and white photographic prints. It was a collection inspired by fishermen and the giant containers that we find in ports and how these are reused as homes. For this reason, the hairdresser decided to print fishermen’s faces on the extensions.
