How Do You Break Into Fashion Hairdressing?

Diana Schmidtke

Q. How do you break into Hollywood and/or fashion hairdressing?

A.

Freelance Hollywood and fashion hair stylist and author of Shortcuts to a Successful Career as a Hairstylist or Make-Up Artist for the Fashion and Entertainment Industry (www.shortcutsthebook.com) Diana Schmidtke gives us the scoop:

"It may seem like the entertainment and fashion industries are similar, but the career path for each one is completely different. In the beginning, a career in fashion requires a completely different path than the path of a film and television hair stylist. Eventually, these two industries will cross over for a successful hair stylist. In both fields you must be an educated artist and live in a city with the right resources.

"For a fashion career, living in a city that can provide you with modeling agency contacts is key. You will need to work with photographers and models to build up your portfolio. An artist's portfolio is the most important tool for the freelancer.  
"For a career in film and television, you also need to build a portfolio. Amateur photography is acceptable to show your work, but your range will have to be even more diverse. You will want to showcase your skills not only in beauty hair styling but also on period and character hair, and wigs.

"Once you have a portfolio full of 15-20 pictures that best showcase your work, you can begin shopping yourself to the hair and make-up artist agencies. Present yourself as an assistant, first. If you walk into an agency and show them your portfolio and say you want to be a signed artist with them with no previous high-fashion and film experience, they will most likely say no. An agency only immediately takes on artists who have experience in the industry. Go to www.celestineagency.com to view the portfolios of some of the professionals in the fashion industry.

The bottom line: It all starts with having a beautiful portfolio. Then you need to contact people who have the power to hire you. You will also need to start looking at fashion magazines differently. Each page tells a story, and ultimately that is what you will have to do through hair and make-up."

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Originally posted on Modern Salon