Last updated 11:03, Saturday, 27 September 2008

Nelson Brown is a man in demand from the fashion industry’s top professionals.

Nelson Brown

Celebrity hair stylist Nelson has just returned from his eighth season at London Fashion Week where he has created stunning hairstyles for some of the world’s top designers showcasing the latest trends on the catwalk.

He is now back at his salons in Dumfries and Lockerbie, reflecting on his hectic schedule in London.

“This season has been the best I have done for a long time,” he said. “My legs really have hit the ground running, with shows coming thick and fast.”

Yet all the glitz and glamour isn’t new to Nelson, who has styled the hair of celebs including Terri Hatcher and Kate Moss and styled models on a Robbie William’s cover shoot during his 21-year career.

It was a chance meeting with backstage stylist Raphael Salley that led to him working backstage at some of the biggest shows in fashion, collaborating with Raphael as his first assistant.

He is part of a team that has to fuse the designs, hair and make-up.

His busy schedule in London started with a show by John Rocha, who Nelson says placed the final touches to his models himself before they went out on the runway.

And there was no time to relax between shows as this show was quickly followed by another fashion giant Julian McDonald, with a show at Lancaster House, the Duke of York’s original residence. Following this McDonald flew the fashion flag at a star studded reception to mark 25th anniversary of London Fashion Week at Downing Street.

Nelson said: “Backstage is like a controlled craziness. There is a lot of pressure but this is part of the job.

“Models go from show to show so sometimes they can arrive an hour before a show with their hair in a style completely different to what you need for the show you are working on.

“You have to know short cuts to get things done on time.”

According to Nelson, the show that really got the British hearts pumping was Stella McCartney show for Adidas at Lindley Hall in Westminster, which bought the sporting spirit to the fashion week.

Nelson, 36, said: “I worked on this show last season with Rapheal Salley as the key hairdresser, and for this show Stella zoned in on the Olympic story.

“Olympic athletes helped her launch her new Adidas collection, including American runner Allyson Felix and team GB’s Victoria Pendleton.

“The show mixed McCartney’s cool style and feminine shapes and had trampolinists, parallel bars, runners, and tennis being carried out in the hall.

“This show was a break in the mould as there was no runway – the girls used the equipment to show off the outfits.”

From here Nelson went on to the show by the Aquascutum fashion label.

“The clothing was truly beautiful and a testimony to British design,” he said. “The hair was wet down with mouse, then blow-dried to give it a smooth but dense texture. I then created a centre parting and then the hair was gathered at the nape and pushed back on itself to give a bob look at the front. The ponytail was randomly tongued to give movement.”

One theme running throughout the week was the influence of the eighties in fashion, hair and make-up.

“It’s all about the eighties,” said Nelson. “In hairstyling this means the return of the type of products used in that decade, especially mouse and scrunched hair, but they are being used in a much more modern way.

“There were a lot of technicolour, orange, lemon and white colours and styles similar to those seen on Visage album covers.”

During the week Nelson also met glamorous supermodel Agyness Deyn, worked on the Giles Deacon show, created high ponytails for the Aminaka Wilmont show and then worked on the Peter Pilotto show, where the inspiration was rivers.

Nelson said: “The hair was wet down with water and spray to give shine and hold. A section in the front was taken out and pinned away then the rest was combed over to the right side, like a flat chignon with the comb marks in the hair. It was then twisted flat to formed a river like effect in the hair. The front was combed separately to give different movement and attached to the side in a swirling movement.”

Before London Fashion Week, Nelson took part in a 70 minute show at the Palais de Sports, MCB in Paris on September 14, working for Five Point Plan, an hairdressing education company.

After an eventful journey to Paris, which saw Nelson and his team driving through the night after fire closed the Channel Tunnel, Nelson took to the stage to demonstrate hair cuts.

He delivered Japanese Manga inspired shapes with square layers and solid outlines and flashes of extreme colour including magenta and cerise to an audience of 2,500 international hair professionals.

But all this hasn’t gone to Nelson’s head, as he was keen to return to his salons in Dumfries and Lockerbie.

“This is where it all began,” he said. “The clients in the salons are so important.”