Gary Baker and Narad Kutowaroo talk Runway Ready

Get ready for the Runway Ready course in July with Gary Baker and Narad Kutowaroo – the one that offers great session styling knowhow with a place on a Fashion Week at the end of it! This is a must-do happening for any aspiring sessionist, so cool to catch two of the course leaders for a chat. Say hello to Gary Baker, Unite Hair international creative director and Narad Kutowaroo, Unite Hair UK ambassador. Gary and Narad have just returned from Paris Fashion Week Men’s and now check into Lacey’s HQ to prepare for the course on July 24th and 25th.

To be clear: Runway Ready is the two-day session styling bootcamp you won’t want to miss. The course focuses on the beautiful chaos of backstage styling at runway shows. An added benefit is that all course attendees can join the Unite Hair team at a Fashion Week soon after, if they wish. Exciting!

Interview with Gary Baker and Narad Kutowaroo

Respect For Hair: So Gary, everybody has been talking about Runway Ready. What makes it special?

Gary: In brief… It’s a two-day bootcamp where you are going to be introduced to all the joys of working backstage at Fashion Week. It’s a great introduction for people who are second-guessing themselves about attending Fashion Week. Or just want to dip their toe into the fashion world and try session work. The course will give them a really good foundation as to what is required to work backstage

Respect For Hair: Narad, who are you expecting to have in your team this season?

Narad: I’m looking forward to seeing some old faces come back and welcoming new people along. For me it’s always great seeing new people come along and develop over the two days. They start shy, then we build up the confidence and take them onto the show and see how much they enjoy it. 

Respect For Hair: Do you need to already have done session work? 

Narad: Runway Ready is for everyone but I love it when we get some newbies along. This is something that I wish I had the opportunity to do earlier in my career. I know from previous experience that taking people who have only been hairdressing for a year, or two, and opening their eyes to this whole other side of the industry, is amazing. It can be quite transformative to someone’s career. That being said, it’s also good for someone who’s been in their career for 20+ years and is finally getting the opportunity to come backstage and peep behind the curtain and see how we do it.

Gary: That’s a great point. There’s a lot of people out there, not only new in their career, who feel like they’ve had their chance or they’ve missed it. We get people every season, who’ve been in their career 20 years and have always felt like session work was something they wanted to do but never got there. They are embraced just like everyone else and they will be surprised at how valuable they are to the team.

Respect For Hair: London Fashion week is an amazing event to be a part of. What are you looking forward to this season?

Narad: The Unite team is renowned backstage for always delivering the goods; we’ve seen that season upon season. We’re working with the same designers over and over again which is a great compliment for us. It’s a great show of the results we get from the course and the attendees that come along. I think that it proves how valuable they are to us, as well.

Gary: I think what is good for people coming as well is the amount of product knowledge they get working backstage. It’s phenomenal. It creates a great level of understanding. I think that’s one of the strongest elements of our brand. Our products perform so well, especially backstage. I would put them up against many other brands.

Respect For Hair: Gary what advice would you give to stylists who want to get into session styling?

Gary: Come on the course. Simple. It is valuable. I always wanted to create it for that reason. …Here’s a two-day class that allows you access to working backstage straight away. Then, you’ve got to create a portfolio and understand the work that goes on and almost re-educate yourself. Runway Ready fast-tracks you. And if you are a bright personality, because personality goes a long way throughout this industry, you might click with someone and they might ask you along on another job to assist them. Before you know it you’re in the session world without even trying.

Narad: Yeah I second that. My own career has been built on networking. You are your own brand so getting backstage and being in the right room with the right people is a massive step. If you work by yourself or with a salon, this opens up your world. The shows Runway Ready does run across all the Fashion Weeks, so it’s definitely getting you a foot in the door.

Gary: I’d like to say; we can’t teach you everything in two days. It’s impossible. We do find that people come back again and again because they are learning more skills and we advance them within the class when they come back. So they experience being given a slightly different style and working under different pressures. For first-timers it can be over-whelming – they won’t know where to go, where to stand, what kit to get out, who they are going to work with… it’s a sensory overload. But once they’ve joined Runway Ready two or three times it becomes comfortable and they don’t feel like they are stepping out of their depth. Then they start to enjoy it even more.

Respect For Hair: Thanks to both of you! We are looking forward to seeing you at Runway Ready this July. 

Click here to learn more about Runway Ready