Jason Hall's New York Fashion Week Blog

Hello, my name’s Jason Hall and I own Jason Hall Hairdressing salon and the Creative Hub photographic studio in Edinburgh. About six years ago I got asked to assist backstage at a show at London Fashion Week. Although I had worked on lots of hair shows and photographic shoots, I had never worked on a high profile fashion show and I was quite unsure whether it was my sort of thing.

I got the last flight to London on the Saturday night and was up at 4am for a 9am show on the Sunday, ready to fly back to Edinburgh later that day. I did the show and loved every minute of it, and the buzz was amazing. The lead stylist then asked me if I fancied helping with his next show, so I cancelled my flight home and ended up doing a further five shows.

The next season I worked on 12 shows in five days in London and was asked to go to Milan and Paris the following weeks. Now each season I attend New York, London, Milan and Paris for both ladies and men's Fashion Weeks - assisting on about 80 shows per year. This season I'm going to share the key trends, shows and stories from my travels, beginning with New York Fashion Week. 

New York is always the first stop, and it's always a really busy time with some massive shows. This season I worked on 13 shows in NYC including DKNY, Jeremy Scott, Tommy Hilfiger and Vera Wang. I also did a street trends photo shoot and ended up cutting hair on the street in the middle of Times Square at 1.30am!

The two key trends that were strong at New York Fashion Week were waves and, surprise, surprise, braids. More grungy and softer than previous seasons, the latest waves used more of the model’s natural texture rather than using tongs – a look that was strong on ‘Creatures Of The Wind’ and softer, slightly more commercial on ‘Gant’.

The second trend, braids, has been about for a few seasons now in all shapes and sizes, but they’re still going strong. On Proenza Schouler we braided a big chunky ponytail, but on Andrea Jiapei li we had multiple braids at the back. For me the best show of the week had to be Tommy Hilfiger. Their theme was ‘reggae beach party’ with a cocktail shack and a pool! The hair captured both key trends with lovely soft beach waves and small braids behind each ear, which we bound with green, yellow and red thread.

My highlight of the week had to be doing the photo shoot. I always travel with my good friend/hairdresser/photographer, Desmond Murray, and this season I've decided to do a street style photo shoot in each of the cities we travel to. Using local models, make-up artists and stylists, with Desmond taking the photos and me doing the hair, we hope to capture the vibe of each city during its Fashion Week. You'll be able to get a sneak peak of each of the shoots as the season goes on. And now, I’m packed, London Fashion Week calling, we’ll speak soon.