Dye Girls

In the backstage mêlée during Fashion Week, pigment-pushing is relegated mostly to the face—makeup artists deal in many tinted splendors, but hair gurus tend to keep the dye stuff out of the picture. (Think of the mess! Think of the processing time!) Yet, backstage at Catherine Malandrino’s spring showing, a colorista stands proudly, herself a beacon of bright color in a vivid magenta dress. Eva Scrivo, a Wella Professional colorist, watches famed stylist Odile Gilbert weave 20 hair wefts that Scrivo, along with senior colorist Donna Tripodi and assistant Gwynne Mims, painstakingly colored with the newly relaunched Wella Koleston Perfect line. Rather than matching the extensions to the models’ natural hair color, Scrivo crafted accent colors that work more like high-contrast highlights to be woven throughout Gilbert’s high-rollin’, rockabilly pompadours.

“Catherine is the queen of femininity and color, so it was only natural to work haircolor into the hairstyles for the runway,” beams Scrivo. “For spring/summer, haircolor is moving more toward richer, natural brunettes, and we’re layering colors like never before.” To achieve this, Scrivo balayaged the hairpieces, allowing for scintillating tonal dimensions. She points to a table where an array of wefts lay in waiting; they boast a range of burnished hues that Scrivo describes as “the colors of nature—warm chestnuts, auburns, caramels, and cognacs—plus a few beautiful blondes for some high drama!” And because the runway is nothing like the salon, Scrivo took into account everything needed to show her color creations in the best light—make that runway lighting. “The blue lights pull color out of the hair, so I made sure to have a blue light on hand when I created the colors to ensure perfect results,” she laughs. The end effect: to-dye-for hairstyles! —Karie L. Frost