Toni&Guy’s (T&G) International Artistic and Educational Director (Japan & South Hemisphere) Bill Watson visited the brand’s hairdressing academy at GK-II, M Block, early this week. his purpose: to demonstrate few haircuts in classic and creative styles to 15 hairdressing students. During the two-day masterclass, Watson freewheeled observations that reflected his related interests – teaching fashion history and reading on sociology and different cultures. So a short tête-a-tête with Watson, led to a delightful ‘masterclass’ in global ethnographies, hair being the chief specimen.

Watson observes how, for many years, the norm in fashion was to look more European. “But now, the world is saying ‘No!’ That is why international campaigns are becoming more multicultural in order to reflect diverse tastes. And we [hairdressing] as an industry should embrace and appreciate diverse natural textures.” All countries and not India alone, he says, is subject to regional diversity, and cites China as an example of a country wrongly associated with straight hair and short stature.

“Girls in North China, towards the Russian border, have blue eyes, thin straight hair, and are really tall. Towards South China, the hair turns wavy and coarse.” Towards Europe, the New Zealander explains how in Scandinavian countries, you’d find his type of hair – “smooth and flat at the cuticles because of the cold.” As you progress towards the equator it gets hotter, so in Italy and Spain, the quality of hair is coarse, thick, curly, and because of the heat, the hair sort of “stays away from their head… In fact, Italians call Naples, Bombay,” says Watson, who deviates into scientific reasoning, calling hair, “the human fur” that is impacted by body heat – “so hair sits flat when you’re warmer inside, and sits out when it’s hotter outside.” 

Continuing on the thought of why multiculturalism and individuality must be celebrated, he points at fashion-capital London – where his first stint with T&G in 1994 lasted for 20 years. “Your 9’oclock [customer] is from Russia, 10’oclock’s from China, 11’oclock’s from India… Get on a tube here and its ‘UN on wheels’.”

Makeup giants, he says, have learnt their lesson by coming out with a plethora of shades to suit ‘brown and darker’ skin tones. “But the hairdressing industry is yet to catch up.”
To adapt to dramatic changes, like not acknowledging international looks, the younger crop of hairdressers, he feels, are easier to train because they come with less baggage. “The older you get you trick yourself into knowing everything. You feel you know the client’s hair better than they do, but of course, you don’t because it’s her hair! It’s great being old but you’ve got an open mentality and look forward, not back.’ Not ‘I’m the oldest so I must be the smartest’ attitude.”