Styled for Success

07/02/2012

A Gateshead College Apprentice hairdresser is on the edge of glory after his Lady Gaga inspired hairstyles have put him a cut above the rest and landed him a job at London Fashion Week.

Garry Wark posted pictures of his creative hairstyles on social networking site Facebook where they were spotted by London fashion house, LDW Atelier.

LDW Atelier has designed clothing for the stars of ITV's The Only Way is Essex and 80's singer Sinitta.

The 19-year-old from North Shields was contacted directly by the owner of the label, Lewis Duncan Weedon who asked if he would be the main stylist and work with his models for his London fashion Week show on February (23rd). 

Garry is in the final year of an Advanced Apprenticeship in Hairdressing. He attends Gateshead College one day per week while working at Splinters Salon in Whitley Bay. 

He said: "I couldn't believe it when Lewis got in touch with me to say he liked my work and asked if I would join his team as the main hair stylist on his London Fashion Week show. 

"It's my ambition to become one of the top celebrity hair stylists so this is a fantastic opportunity and I feel so lucky to have had my work spotted. 

"The fashion show will be really intense but I'm confident I'll do a great job. I've got a lot of experience working at Splinters and with the skills I've learned there and at Gateshead College, I feel confident I'll cope well under pressure."      

Garry first started working for Splinters while he was a pupil at Marden High School in North Shields and has continued his role while completing his two-year Apprenticeship at Gateshead College.

The pictures which he posted on Facebook were from a hair demonstration show he did at Gateshead College where he styled three styles on stage as part of an exhibit at an awards ceremony. The extravagant designs, which were all inspired by Lady Gaga, were modelled by Garry's friends. 

During his 10-day stay in London, Garry will meet with Lewis to see the clothing range and get inspiration for how he will style the models' hair. He'll then be responsible for designing and styling hair for all of the models at the LDW Atelier show at The Montcalm Marble Hotel in London's exclusive Park Lane.

 Lewis said: "Garry clearly has a talent and his creative flair is exactly what we need for our London Fashion Week show. I'm really excited to have him onboard, his work really impressed me and I'm sure Garry has a very successful future ahead of him."

London Fashion Week is the UK's biggest annual fashion event which includes shows from top fashion designers like Vivienne Westwood and Matthew Williamson as well as up and coming labels. The event sets hair, make-up and nail trends in addition to fashion and accessories.

Garry trains at Gateshead College's Baltic Salon and Spa, an industry standard, professional training environment, designed to match the very best commercial salons in the surrounding area which equips students with the skills and experience to achieve success.