Locks made to be loved

THERE’S a new place in town offering a head-to-toe makeover for both girls and guys. It’s called “Hive Life by L’Oreal Professionnel” and it’s the brainchild of celebrated hair stylist Grit “Gong” Jirakiertvadhan.

Launched last week in the Fashion Groove Zone of CentralWorld in downtown Bangkok, the full-service beauty hub is spread over a massive 400 square metres and divided into four zones, all of them targeting young-generation professionals. Guys can chill at the Gentleman Zone, which offers a cool barber service and haircuts in a private and manly ambience. 

Complete hairdressing services from wash and blow dry, to cutting, setting and colour services are found in the Lady Zone, along with consultations on hair designs and overall looks. Aromatic coffee and gourmet dishes are available at the Cafe Zone run by Kuppadeli while the Beauty Bar Zone boasts counters by leading brands supervised by makeup experts to help you achieve the perfect look.

“You leave with a head-to-toe makeover,” says Grit, who also hosted a show of the 2018 fashion and hair trends at the opening. Designed by him and the salon’s stylist team with the collaboration of four world-class brands, the fashion extravaganza kicked off with 87 MM Seoul, a label offering clean-cut and flexible apparel on the theme “No Concept But Good Sense”. The brand’s showcase of men’s streetwear was enhanced by the models’ locks, which glinted with highlights achieved by using Grit’s Bleach and Tone technique. 

Thai brand Tohns combined elements of traditional apparel with modern tones and handicraft techniques on new materials in its capsule collection, focusing on dresses in pastel shades decorated with sequin and lace details. The models boasted heavily textured hair designs achieved through a new style of setting that anyone can remake at home. 

Japanese brand, Mihara Yasuhiro brought Tokyo Fashion Week chic to the event with edgy, out-of-the-box designs made just for fun. The street wear collection was accentuated by unruly natural looking hair setting and the “Half Wet Half Matt” finish created from a mixture of wax and gel. 

The finale was presented by Indonesian brand Tex Saverio, who theatrical couture has caught the eye of several Hollywood superstars including Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lawrence and Kim Kardashian as well as Thai actress, Rasri “Margie” Balenciaga, who trusted the brand with the design of her wedding dress.

The label designed an outfit especially for the show to match the hairstyle created by balayage, a highlighting technique where bleach or colour is lightly painted on the surface of your hair rather than saturating an entire section for a soft, natural-looking, sun-kissed look.