Where does the inspiration for Essential Looks come from?

Essential Looks derives its inspiration from the international catwalk shows and fashion designers collections that are held and shown twice yearly in Paris, Milan, New York and London. We take our direction and focus from the shows and translate the trends into real aspirations, looks and trends that we know will be popular for the forthcoming season.

What kind of people are involved in Essential Looks and how many?

My role as creative director of Essential Looks is to source a group of like minded creative people who will think, act and work as a team for each edition we publish.

We use our team of Schwarzkopf Professional Global Ambassadors to create the hair looks for each collection. These ambassadors are made up from a group of predominately session hairdressers who work within the world of fashion on a regular basis. They constantly travel the world, working with top fashion designers, make-up artists and photographers.

Their days are always different: One day may be a VIP celebrity makeover, the next could be working on a music video followed by an editorial shoot for a top fashion magazine. It is their creative input that drives Essential Looks using the information and research that we gather in a fashion forward direction.

For the remaining members of the team for any given collection, l look for the photographer, clothes stylist, make-up artist, video production team who will have their own individual style that will be "right" for the collection we are working on. l find that by taking this approach, we keep the project fresh and vibrant with new ideas and opinions from a different perspective each time.

The last Essential Looks team was approximately a 20 strong team, with each person playing an important role.

Please describe the steps it takes to create Essential Looks.

Research, passion and a burning desire to produce the very best edition we can. That is all l am going to tell you; after all, l don't want to give all our secrets away!!

What makes your job so exciting?

Having an obsessive passion to be the best! l love hearing all the different Essential Looks success stories from around the world. To be the creative director on a project such as Essential Looks allows me to meet many different people from all five continents. I suppose the ultimate satisfaction comes from the " wow " factor as l call it when we publish a collection, listening to and seeing peoples’ reactions is excitement in itself.

What are the main trends going to be for Spring / Summer 2006?

We are focusing on six key hero trends which several top designers hit upon and which you will see from a hair, make-up and fashion perspective on a high street near you quite soon.

Boy Division - Real kind of dapper mood for menswear this season. The androgynous rock star type provided inspiration for a look which is cool, dark and grungy. The Dior and John Richmond menswear collections epitomise THE look.

Simplicity - Super deluxe simplicity with streamlined silhouettes inspired by the 1960's fashion houses and Andy Warhol's muse, Edie Sedgwick. Very strict body shapes with both clean and simple tailoring. Think classic Courrege and Cardin to evoke the look.

City Slicker - Uptown glamour hit all of the runway shows this season with big city girls. Ultra feminine shapes with sharp sophisticated tailoring, very street chic and ultra modern. This woman is a power dresser who always gets what she wants!!

Glam - Glamour is back BIG TIME with über cool influences from music, and art. It's about Glam rock and dressy dolls, more is more. Glitz, mini skirts, sexy and over styled dressing will ensure we have a long hot summer with this look.

Purity - There was also a clear return to pure femininity from many designers, focusing clearly on delicate dressings and fabrics which captured this season's passion for romance. Effortlessly simply and totally understated, garments were pared down to be bare and minimal. Eyelet lace and chiffon together with organza will create a summer of romance.

Sport Luxe - Sport Luxe is luxury leisure with sportswear influences. A look which was inspired totally by Coco Chanel and the 1920's and 30's French Riviera scene. Relaxed with sporty overtones and body conscious shapes. Classic lines and looks but combined with a modern day casual feeling.

What are the Trends for Autumn / Winter 2006 / 07?

Still to early to make firm predictions but already research is showing that in the colour field, pastel shades for both hair and clothes will be popular. Colours that will harmonise and sit easily together.In clothing, a distinct trend from a lot of major designers will be the use of metallic materials in many different ways.

What are you working on right now?

At the time of writing l am just about to leave Hamburg, where l am based, to travel to Vienna to launch the latest collection to our central European Schwarzkopf colleagues, followed by the Autumn / Winter photo shoot. Essential Looks just keeps on movin’!

click here for the new Essential Looks...