Nicola Harrowell on Creating Tribute Hair

Megan Hill
&
Published:
07
Jun
2022
Updated:
18
Jan
2023
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close up headshot of Nicola. long dark curly hair, wearing a leather jacket
Nicola Harrowell—hairstylist

Nicola Harrowell is an accomplished hairstylist for whom curly hair is a passion. Nicola works as a freelance hairstylist and has worked on projects across film, editorial and runway.

Who would you love to get camera-ready?

I don’t usually dream of working with specific celebrities because you don't know if you’ll gel well with someone until you actually work with them.

I do love the people I have worked with already: Lashana Lynch, Nicôle Lecky, Iman Perez, Jessica Plummer, Indya Moore, Lauren Ridloff, Olive Grey, Toheeb Jimoh and Alexandra Shipp to name a few. I’d love to work with them all again in the future!

I also met ICON Kate Moss (of course, she is fabulous), whilst I was assisting Anthony Turner. I would move heaven and earth to accommodate it if I was ever given the chance to work with her again.

But regardless of who I'm working with, I just like to have tons of hair to play with and manipulate. I'm also quite obsessed with red/ginger hair!

Oh! I'm a big fan of Sir David Attenborough too!

What do you love about your job?

I genuinely love going to work! I brainstorm a lot before I get to a shoot in order to get my mind working and thinking outside the box.

What excites me is the energy on set, the hair itself and then whether or not I can go crazy with it!

What do you hope to achieve with your work?

I’d LOVE some more Vogue covers!

But really, I want my work to make a mark in showcasing people as the best versions of themselves. I love not suppressing people's natural texture and colour—I like enhancements rather than coverups.

Hair is very political to me because of its historic relationship with racism.

I recommend that everyone reads 'Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture by Emma Dabiri'. It's not just a book about hair—it’s extremely educational on what hair means to people and the injustices people continue to face due to the follicles they were born with.

a moodboard showing different editorial looks on curly hair
A collection of Nicola Harrowell's hairstyling work. Made in set.new

Big hair, don't care

One of my dream concepts is based on the Goddess, Lady Godiva.

I would love to have a person on a horse with a huge amount of hair (real and added extensions) cascading down their body. I’d love it to be shot on a cobbled street with people fully clothed in formal wear in the background.

I have always been obsessed. I made my logo based on me and Lady Godiva!

Who wants to give me the budget?

a colourful moodboard comprising a painting of lady godiva, long red hair and cobbled streets
Visualist's interpretation of 'Big hair, don't care'—an editorial shoot in tribute to Lady Godiva. Made in set.new

If you want to fund Nicola's Godiva tribute, or just find more of her work, check out her Instagram and website.|

Learn more about moodboarding in Visualist here.

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Nicola Harrowell on Creating Tribute Hair

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hair stylist

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Words by 

Megan Hill

Published on 

June 7, 2022

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