When Luke Hersheson declares a hairstyle “in”, I’ve learnt to listen up. This after all, is the man who predicted we’d all be rocking curtain fringes last year. I was on the fence, until Suki Waterhouse, JLo and Kendall Jenner all served up flirty peek-a-boo fringes that (bonus) could even be swept to the side for days when you fancied something more low key.
He foresaw the return of the perm, then lo and behold, everyone from Gigi Hadid, to Emma Stone and Jenna Dewan dusted off the look and we all remembered how delicious Meg Ryan’s hair was in When Harry Met Sally (it reignited our love for chunky cable knit jumpers, too).
Now, he’s predicted the return of the updo. Not any updo, mind. Before you think of messy buns, deconstructed for optimal nonchalance, think again. “Hair has spent season after season trying so hard to look like it hasn’t tried at all,” says Luke. Yawn. It’s time that we tried something new. Or at least, a modern twist on something old – which is exactly what he’s aiming for with the introduction of his newest style, The Pleat, on his blow dry bar menu at Hershesons.
Combine the Amazonian confidence of the 90s supers and the high-society gloss of Princess Di, and you’re there. It’s 80s Dynasty re-envisioned for 2020. It has the lacquered polish of Joan Collins’ Alexis Carrington, but with the swag of Ab Fab’s Patsy Stone. Essentially, it’s power dressing for your hair.
The best bit? It’s utterly party-proof and therefore perfect for Crimbo drinks: piled high so you don’t dunk it in your Pinot and properly secured so it won’t deflate during the night’s antics – who knew “neat” could be so rebellious?
Where did you get the inspiration?
“We were inspired by images of the early 90s supermodels like Cindy, Christy and Naomi and even some of the late 80s models like Yasmeen Ghauri and Yasmin Le Bon. There was this decadence to fashion – it was elevated and showy. It was the opposite of 90s grunge.”
Why the pleat?
“It’s quite classy in a way, but by making the sides tight and the top flat, it feels modern. It doesn’t have the volume at the front which can look a bit old fashioned. It feels younger. It still has a nod to that 80s vibe though. It’s powerful and confident. It’s power dressing for your hair.”
Why now?
“We might be a bit early for it but, gradually, I think we’re going to see a return to styling hair again and maybe move away a bit from this idea of a haircut doing all the talking. We’ve been in that haircut mode for eight or nine years and I think it’s going to walk itself back into styling somehow. There’ll always be a space for bedhair and looking like you haven’t tried – it’s a classic, it’s never going to go away – but sometimes, if you’ve got an event or a party or something like that to go to there’s a place for it. There’s only so many times you can feel excited about a messy bun. This gives you something that’s elevated but modern.”
Everyone’s fallen back in love with the 80s and 90s, why do you think that is? The nostalgia? The attitude?
“Newer generations now are looking at it, who never saw it the first time around, so to them, it’s even more exciting. There’s a load of kids who are super into Jennifer Aniston and Friends. But I think it’s this idea of power dressing. We’re in a time of Instagram filters and people taking a lot of care with their makeup but we haven’t seen that transpire into hair. There’s this general boredom of, ‘we’ve done waves, we’ve done messy buns.” It’s this idea of actually trying again. It feels refreshing.”
What has the response been?
“You have to have a lot of confidence to wear it, because it’s not the type of thing that’s been everywhere yet. But, if you look at the Chanel show last week, for instance, Sam [McKnight] did these very wet pleats at the back of the hair with a similar shape to this. There’s a move towards really styling again, so I think it will gradually build. I always like to get to the party quite early, but there’s definitely an interest for it.”
How can we recreate it at home for those not in London
“It’s not easy. When we all started learning hairdressing, it was like the first hair-up technique we learnt. But the skills of learning it have died out a lot. Go and find old lady salons, with hairdressers that know those skill sets, because a lot of the younger generation of hairdressers don’t necessarily have those skills.”
Aside from The Pleat, what’s the most popular style for you over Christmas?
“The blow dry bars probably do do more updos around Christmas but loose waves is still super popular. There’s this divide between people wanting something super polished or super undone.”
