With his La Favorite collection, hairdresser Alexis Ferrer has managed to surprise and excite us all through an innovative technique of photographic printing on hair. A unique project with stunning results that has gained international applause and recognition in the industry. Gorgeous!
La Favorite collection was finished at the beginning of July and from September the first bunch of images of the project started taking over Instagram. On the 25th of October Alexis participated with La Favorite in the final round of the Figaro Awards and won two awards, Spanish Hairdresser of the Year and Best Video Production. Weeks later, on the 30th of November, the collection was a finalist in the British Hairdressing Awards, the UK’s top hairdressing awards.
No wonder why the collection undoubtedly inspired Chris Appleton, Hollywood’s top celebrity hairstylist, to create a version for Jennifer Lopez recently.
The story behind the innovation
Alexis Ferrer, Wella Professionals global creative artist, created, for the first time in the history of hairdressing, a photographic print on hair in 2012. The brand then asked him to 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. Inspiration came from painters like Escher, designers like Alexander McQueen, and horror movies like The Shining and Hitchcock’s Psycho. 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 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 collaborated with the designer Txell Miras creating extensions with black and white photographic prints. It was a collection inspired by fishermen; the hairdresser decided to print fishermen’s faces on the extensions.
At the beginning of 2020, Alexis perfected the technique, working on colour intensity and improving definition. He went from making the prints with photographic ink to generating them digitally. With this change, the photos are printed on a flat extension to ensure definition, and the extension is subsequently attached to the wig. And we are in love with the final result!
Alexis has shared the entire creative process and the formula to achieve the results of La Favorite in his social media @alexisferrer01 – really worth having a look, guys!
Credits
Hair: Alexis Ferrer • Photographer: Rafael Andreu • MUA: Mary Torres
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