For ERDEM SS27, Hair Director Eugene Souleiman explored the tension between masculinity and femininity with two contrasting hair looks created using KEVIN.MURPHY. Raw and windswept met soft and romantic, with each look reflecting the duality running throughout the collection.
Inspired by Barbette, the American aerialist who captivated 1920s Paris performing as a woman before revealing himself as a man, the collection explored identity and transformation. For Souleiman, this translated into two deliberately opposing approaches to hair.
“I love this show because there are two very different looks,” says Eugene. “One is a very masculine, raw-looking, textured style that moves away from the face. It’s loosely based on a 1940s Hollywood men’s hairstyle, but it’s broken and more dishevelled.”
The Gentlewoman
The first look started with a deep side parting and hair combed cleanly away from the face using KEVIN.MURPHY HAIR.RESORT at the roots. After being left to air-dry, the hair was pulled apart and blasted with a hairdryer to break down the polished finish and create something more windswept and lived-in.
Eugene describes the look with one word: “gentlewoman.”
“I love slightly masculine hair on women,” he says. “I think it makes them look tougher and more refined. There’s an intelligent sensibility behind it, which I find incredibly chic.”
The result feels as though the hair was once perfectly groomed, but has since been disrupted – intentionally imperfect without losing its sophistication.
The romantic counterpoint
The second look moved in a completely different direction. HAIR.RESORT.SPRAY was worked through the mid-lengths and ends to encourage natural texture, while a sharp centre parting brought precision to the front.
Along the parting, SESSION.SPRAY FLEX and a small tong were used to create finely textured strands and a delicate haze over the hair.
“There’s this very soft, romantic haze that sits over the top of a very sharp look,” explains Eugene. “It’s controlled, but it isn’t tight, shiny or perfect. It almost feels static.”
The lengths were pulled into a ponytail before being tightly braided into the nape. POWDER.PUFF was worked through the braid for a dry, matte texture before it was gently pulled apart to create a fuller, softer shape that Eugene describes as having an “almost Botticelli-like feeling.”
Creating texture without the weight
For KEVIN.MURPHY Master Caroline Kells, the common thread between the two looks was creating texture while keeping the hair light.
“We had two signature looks, but both were about creating a slightly gritty feeling in the hair and achieving a beautiful matte finish,” she says.
Product choice was adapted to each model’s natural texture. HAIR.RESORT.SPRAY added grip to slippery or polished hair, while HAIR.RESORT and a small amount of ROUGH.RIDER provided extra control where needed.
And when it came to POWDER.PUFF, Caroline’s advice was simple: don’t underestimate it.
“POWDER.PUFF is small but mighty,” she says. “It’s much more powerful than you might expect, so you can use it sparingly when you want subtle texture, or be more generous when you want much bigger hair.”
Importantly, matte doesn’t mean dehydrated. Caroline recommends preparing the hair with moisturising conditioner and a leave-in treatment such as UN.TANGLED before layering matte styling products over the top.
A story of contrasts
The hair also deliberately contrasted with the clothes: feminine looks were paired with masculine hair, while more traditionally masculine silhouettes were styled with the romantic braid.
“Everything is juxtaposed,” explains Eugene. “The whole show is about duality in terms of gender.”
Rather than trying to translate every reference from the collection literally into hair, Eugene kept things restrained, allowing the details to feel more subtle and instinctive.
The final result? Groomed, then disrupted. Sharp, then softened. Masculine and romantic existing side by side – without the need to choose between the two.
KEY PRODUCTS
KEVIN.MURPHY HAIR.RESORT • HAIR.RESORT.SPRAY • SESSION.SPRAY FLEX • POWDER.PUFF • ROUGH.RIDER • UN.TANGLED.
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