November 20th, 2011

Jessica Grubisa

The very talented Jess Grubisa had her Graduation show from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design recently. As she is a friend of Ryder and Assistant fashion editor at Black magazine we were happy to help her out with the hair for her show. We also shot some of the garments recently for the next issue of Black Magazine.  In her own words  “Rags to Riches” explores contrasting class systems and aesthetics. I wanted to explore representations of wealth i.e the colour purple, silk, excess of gems, in contrast to lower-class connotations i.e denim, Hessian, plastic gems, and tinsel, to create a tongue-in-cheek approach to status, class and wealth.”

Lydia Mahon and Kerry Irvine came up with a textural look that was sewn to the head at the back.   Silver hair grips were used as a decorative element to provide a shiny counterpoint to the hair texture.

October 25th, 2011

Hawkins and Scuffell

You may have noticed a new Antique and Interiors store in Herne Bay recently. Longtime friends of Ryders’ Greg Murrell, John McLenaghan and Bob Gilhooly are ex-hairdressers who cut their teeth in the Antiques business in London by taking over a business named Hawkins and Scuffell. Returning to New Zealand a few years ago, they set up Mrs Jones Antiques, Retro and Kiwiana in Warkworth. Now they have brought their eclectic and eccentric vision to Herne Bay in the latest incarnation of Hawkins and Scuffell. It’s well worth a visit.

Hawkins and Scuffell,
236 Jervois Rd,
Herne Bay,
Auckland 1011.
+64 9 3611006
 www.hawkinsandscuffell.co.nz

October 18th, 2011

Kevin Murphy Color.Bug

Many of you will have noticed the trend for bright or pastel colour in hair in fashion magazines in the last couple of seasons. Have you ever wanted to try that for just one night? Now you can with Color Bug from our friend Kevin Murphy. It is one of the most fun new products that we have come across Quite simply, it is wipe on, wipe off temporary fluoro colour! Think High Def hair colour without the commitment, hair colour that is as easy to apply as makeup! Available in 3 colours – pink,purple and orange and in salon now . Ask us to show it to you next time you visit. Take one home and get all Zandra Rhodes on it…….

October 15th, 2011

rydermusic

Here’s the latest selection of music we are currently listening to in salon:
Feist – Metals: Superb baroque pop with rangy vocals expressing fragility and quirkiness.
Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire: Singer loses band, gets happy and makes his most beautiful, unadorned record since the great Heartbreaker.
St Vincent – Strange Mercy: Arty pop subversion encased in direct, guitar based settings from Texan Annie Clark.
The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient: A striking mix of loose ambient rock and electronics.
Washed Out - Within and Without: Dreamy synth pop occupying a space between indie-pop catchiness and a fragile narcotic groove.
Wilco – The Whole Love: More detailed mining of the heart from Americas’ finest alt.rock masters.
Bjork – Biophilia: more vibrant innovation from the experimental pop music pioneer.
Beirut – The Rip-Tide: Beautiful mournful old world melodies animated with piano, horns and strings.
Neon Indian – Era Extraná: A hazily expansive 80’s inspired sound of bleepy synths and swooning melodies.
Active Child – You Are All I See: Sweeping harp, pining falsetto married to R’n’B bass applying hip hop intensity to a new wave template.

September 29th, 2011

Crane Brothers A/W 12 with hair by Jannine Jones

Here’s the Autumn/Winter 2012 campaign for Crane Brothers with a suitably crisp and clean cut by Ryders’ Jannine Jones and photography by Karen Inderbitzen-Waller.

September 22nd, 2011

Huffer Summer 2011 with hair by Fraser Foulagi

Fraser has been at it again! Here he works on Huffer Summer 2011/12 with stylist Zara Mirkin.

September 5th, 2011

Backstage at Huffer @ NZFW11

Photography by Damien Nikora

September 4th, 2011

Huffer – Colden Days. How to do the hair.

The latest collection from Huffer is loosely inspired by all things Russian. After meeting with show stylist Zara Mirkin, Greg created a look that worked with the nomadic inspiration behind the styling. This look had to accomodate the extensive use of head wraps. A wrapped bun was created at the crown , the hair at the sides was clipped back and the remaining hair at the back was left to float freely creating a modern up/down hairstyle.

How to do the hair: Women’s

1) Prepare hair by spraying Kms California AddVolume Volumizing Spray into the hair and blow-drying it with hands to create volume.
2) Put a small amount of bend in the hair using a conical tong in about 6 sections concentrating on the mid-lengths.
3) Take a circular section to encompass the area from the high crown to the occipital.

4) Lightly back-brush this area in sections towards the roots starting at the roots and moving upwards until all of each section has some back-brushing in it.
5) Next, texture set this area by clamping flat-irons on it and allow to cool. Brush this area out. There will now be extra volume in this area.
6) Pull the Ponytail up and lightly brush the surface area outwards from the roots right around the ponytail.
7) Now take a small amount of hair in a ring around the textured ponytail and brush this unaltered hair in the join the ponytail. This covers the textured hair within.
Spray this area with Dry Wax by Kms California and start twisting it towards the roots and then begin pinning it in place with U-Pins taking care to create a voluminous feel.
9) It is important that this area has a pleasing shape so view it from all angles . It should be
10) Now lightly back-brush to the roots a small square section on the diagonal between the bun and the top of the ears on each side of the head.
11) Brush the hair from the front hairline and sides towards the back of the head and spray with Kms California HairStay Medium Hold Hairspray.
12) Next, take U-pins and pin through the surface into the backcombing underneath in an upwards diagonal line to affix this area to the head. Take care to loop each pin into the previous.
13) Take the mid-lengths of the hair that is coming from the front and sides and pin it together beneath the bun at the occipital.
14) Finish by adding flexible matt hold with Kms California Dry Wax.

How to do the hair: Mens
1) Lightly mist the hair with Kms California
2) Now apply Kms California Curl-up Wave Foam liberally for texture and style hair to suit the model
3) Leave to set by letting it dry naturally.

September 3rd, 2011

Backstage at Stolen Girlfriends Club @ NZFW11

Photography by Damien Nikora.

September 2nd, 2011

Stolen Girlfriends Club – Here Lies the Bones. How to do the hair.

SGC’s signature uncontrived rock and roll hair was updated for this season with a style that featured hair pulled back off the face and fastened at the back of the head with a series of 3 simple knots sewn to the head. The resulting ponytails were pinned to the knots and the ends allowed to drop towards the hair that was free at the nape.

How to create the look.

1) Lightly relax any wave or curl in the hair with flat-irons.
2) Apply SilkSheen styling crème to the hair for light hold.
3) Working with any natural partings or growth patterns , take a triangular section of hair from the high recession on either side of the head to the low crown.
4) Tie a knot towards the roots by pulling the ends through to form a small ponytail.
5) Lift the knot upwards and temporarily affix to the head using a sectioning clip to get it out of your way before doing the next knot.
6) Take your next section from the low front hairline on either side of the head back to the occipital. Knot, ponytail and section away as before.
7) Take back the remaining hair and create the last knot at the high nape being sure the leave some hair out at the nape to float freely.

Now take out the sectioning clips and allow the top 2 knots and ponys to drop.

9) Tension the knots to the head and use hair grips to fix them in place.

10) Take the top 2 ponytails and affix them closely to the knots using hair grips for effect.

11) Next, take a blunt needle and some linen thread and sew underneath the knots to secure them to the head going from side to side in a figure of 8 pattern.
12) When complete, remove the hair grips and apply Kms California Dry Wax to achieve the desired finish with matte surface texture.

August 12th, 2011

Alt Group – Our Graphic Designers win big in Germany

For a few years now our visual identity has been handled by Alt Group here in Auckland. They have won countless awards here in New Zealand, in Australia, probably many in other countries that we don’t know about and now in Germany. They really are quite good and it seems the rest of the world is finding out about them.
Alt Group wins 9 red dots at one of the worlds most illustrious design contests in Germany - Campaign Brief New Zealand.

August 4th, 2011

Stolen Girlfriends Club – One Night at the Museum

Here’s some images from “The Big Comedown” Male collection for Summer 2011 photographed by Derek Henderson.
The hair is by our very own Jannine Jones, Makeup by Jo @ M.A.C and Styling by Zara Mirkin.

July 29th, 2011

Rydermusic

We get lot’s of people asking us what music we are playing when they are in the salon so here’s a list of the latest …Enjoy checking it out!
Bon Iver , Bon Iver – Mesmerising, emotionally sincere Indie Folk.
Antlers, Burst Apart – Despondent ballads wrapped up in gorgeous electronic textures.
Iron and Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean – The Alt-Folk template expanded with the use of synths.
James Blake, James Blake - Young sonic adventurer melds dubstep with R’n’B.
Jamie Woon, Mirrorwriting – Blue- eyed soul with modern London production.
Vetiver, The Errant Charm – Sun-Dappled Cali-Folk.
Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues – Second set of pastoral harmonic folk with more instrumentation.
My Morning Jacket , Circuital – Exuberant, glammy pop and southern fried rock.
The Weeknd, House of Balloons – Indie Rock attitude into R’n’B songs.
Wild Beasts, Smother – UK dream pop imbued with the ghosts of The Blue Nile and Talk Talk.
EMA, Past Life Martyred Saints – Dramatic femme avant – Rock.
Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes - Tough sensuality and pop whimsy from swedish singer.

June 2nd, 2011

Michael Parekowhai @ Venice Biennale

Both friend and longtime client of Ryder, Artist Michael Parekowhai is representing New Zealand at the Venice Biennale with a series of works entitled “On first look into Chapman’s Homer”. It’s on right now until the end of October at the Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore. Many visitors to Ryder will recognise Michael’s work adorning our walls as part of an ongoing collaboration.

We were privileged to attend a preview of the latest work at a showing at a warehouse in Henderson, Auckland before it was shipped off to Venice.

But the exhibition features a ‘surprise’ element in Venice for those who had viewed the work earlier .  The intricately-carved Steinway concert grand piano, He Korero Purakau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river, has been repainted a deep red from its original black colouring.

As Michael said “The artist must always have the last laugh”.

The new colour scheme reflects the flag of the Venice republic (red and gold) and the brass inlay is now gold, a clever feat of alchemy; “Alchemist is an anagram of St Michael”.

Reflecting on the installation in Venice, Michael Parekowhai said he is waiting to see how the work unfolds. “After the event back home in Henderson, the installation is now in its intended location and the emphasis is now on its reception in Venice.”

On first looking into Chapman’s Homer pays tribute to the poem of the same title by the nineteenth-century English Romantic poet John Keats. The work references notions of discovery, exploration, and the cultural interplay between the old and new world.

Music and performance are a central aspect of the installation, of which Parekowhai says, “While the objects in On first looking into Chapman’s Homer are important, much of the real meaning of the work will come through music, which fills space like no object can.”

In addition to the carved Steinway concert grand piano, there are two concert grands fabricated in bronze supporting two cast bronze bulls. On one piano a full-size bull rests on the closed lid (A Peak in Darian) with its massive body suggesting the folding forms of landscape. On the other piano (Chapman’s Homer) the bull is standing firm offering an eye-to-eye challenge for anyone prepared to take a seat at the keyboard. The installation also features a figure from the Kapa Haka series (Officer Taumaha) and two small bronze olive tree saplings (Constitution Hill).

Thanks to Creative New Zealand for some images and words.

Here are some more pictures of the work:

May 11th, 2011

Sherie Muijs Spring Summer 11/12

Runway shot by Katherine Lowe.

Recently, one of our favourite young designers, Sherie Muijs showed her Spring/Summer collection to a select group of invitees at Auckland’s historic De Bretts Hotel. The hair team was headed by two of our young stars, Jannine Jones and Fraser Foulagi. They came up with a nice loose Fishtail braid at the back of the hair to fasten it away from the face that was designed to look like it was created the day before.

Here’s some backstage shots by Guy Coombes:

April 15th, 2011

Crane Brothers Winter 2011

Here’s some images from Crane Brothers Winter 2011 Campaign. Hair By Greg Murrell, Photography by Karen Inderbitzen-Waller.

July 2nd, 2010

Elumen by Goldwell – Ammonia Free Colour

Here at Ryder, like most people we are  interested in how we can reduce chemical exposure in our lives.   There is a now a great consumer  desire for more natural hair products, including hair colour. Hair companies are investing millions in the race to develop hair colour  that does not contain any known  potentially harmful chemicals but will also perform to the levels of colour coverage, condition  and shine factor that we currently enjoy. It would be great to be able to claim that we have a fantastic  all-natural hair colour that will colour as well as the colour that we currently use. But that doesn’t exist yet. 

One step along the way is the introduction of Elumen by Goldwell.  Elumen  is an ammonia and peroxide free permanent hair colour that delivers fantastic colour vibrancy with healthy hair results. It has colour brilliance, vivid gloss and superb durability without compromising the hair structure.

This is a specialised and concise colour range that is tailored to certain types of colour service so if it is of interest to you, ask one of our colourists  if it would be a suitable choice for you.

May 21st, 2010

STOLEN GIRLFRIEND’S CLUB – ‘LIFE’S A BEACH…. WATCH OUT FOR CRABS’ S/S 2010

The Ryder Creative Team recently travelled to Sydney to do hair for Stolen Girlfriend’s Club at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week with the support and assistance of Kms California.

Quote from Stolen Girlfriend’s Club

“So we are cutting back to our roots with this SS10 collection ‘Life’s a Beach….Watch out for Crabs’. We love the title as most people will automatically think of STD’s,  even though there is a deeper meaning involved.  Sometimes life is going according to plan, everything is perfect and then out of nowhere something happens and you’re knocked off your perch….see I told you it was deep…

Anyways!

It will be exactly 5 years to the day when we show at RAFW. What a journey it has been so far! we surfed, we stopped, we became fashion snobs, we snobbed fashion snobs, we drank, we smoked, we laughed, we cried, we loved, we lost love and somewhere in there we created a brand and learnt how to make clothes and how to run a business that has staff!

We have all come from surfing backgrounds so it seemed quite fitting to find (some) inspiration from the beach.  You’ll find a relaxed ‘surf’ vibe happening but there’s also quite a modern futuristic feel with a touch of tribal, to create a juxtaposition of hard & soft.  The contrast that we love so much!  The tribal part comes from the thinking of surf gangs/tribes that spend most of their life on the beach.  And that’s all that we’re saying!”

HAIR BRIEF

The brief from the designers was for a look that was beautiful and tribal and that had a sexy rock and roll feel which is totally the Stolen Girlfriends aesthetic.

It was decided that the hair should be quite skinny to the head and have a quite grunge-y looking loose wave that had a matte product texture that was separated and free in order to animate the beach gang story.

To begin, Kms California Flat-Out Hot-Pressed Spray was applied to the first 6-8 inches of the hair from the scalp and flat-irons are used to make the hair look very flat to the head from about the ear and above. The hair was centre-parted.

Below the ears, if the model’s hair was  wavy or curly it was  relaxed with a tong on a suitability and aesthetic basis. If the model’s hair was straight, then some movement was applied with a tong.

Below the ears the hair look was  skinny and not wide.

3 small plaits were created which didn’t emanate entirely from the scalp. They were initially loose and then got tighter. At the end of each braid, a dyed feather was  attached by tying embroidery thread around it. These 3 plaits were positioned as follows:

2 are placed on one side of the head towards the front.   One is forward of the ear and the other is placed behind it. The final plait is placed on the opposite side at the nape.

The plaits and feathers were swinging and moving around when the model walked and will animated the tribal feeling.

The hair was completed by a liberal application of Kms California Hairplay Clay Crème for separation and the right amount of rock n roll toughness.

March 1st, 2010

Press Clipping: Kevin Murphy Interview from Black Magazine 11

MURPHY’S LAW

IS KEVIN.MURPHY THE QUINTESSENTIAL AUSTRALASIAN HAIR BRAND?

YES, WE THINK SO. EARLY ON, THE MELBOURNE-BASED HAIRDRESSER

MADE HIS OWN PRODUCT, GAINED AN AMERICAN REPUTATION FOR

“BEACH HAIR”, LEARNT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FASHION AND ART –

AND LEARNT, IN A THEATRICAL SENSE, ALL ABOUT WIGS.

BLACK HAIR EDITOR GREG MURRELL CHATS TO KEVIN ABOUT STACK WINDS, ARTY PHOTOGRAPHERS AND STARTING AT THE TOP.

Greg Murrell: So Kevin, how long have you been in the hair dressing industry?

Kevin Murphy: Since November 1979. 30 years this year actually…

GM: How did the early part of your career get under way?

KM: My bosses were all Vidal Sassoon trained, they were very strict hair cutters and they said to me “If you can’t do it with a Denman brush, it can’t be done. I was like “But I really want to know how to do curls and that sort of thing.” And they said “No. You won’t ever need that, you won’t ever need to use that.” We weren’t allowed to use clippers, everything had to be scissor-over-comb, it was very, very strict. We were like human clips at that stage, you weren’t even allowed to use a section clip at that stage. I think them telling me that I couldn’t do it made me look deeper and find out how I could do it.

GM: It was the ethos of the time wasn’t it?

KM: It was the ethos of the time. It was pre-straightening irons. I remember we had to cut a bob from the front. I think the discipline of the cutting really helped with the discipline of my styling, so now instead of being all over the place I am very disciplined in the way I execute it.

GM: Yeah, that’s obvious…

KM: I have simple steps that need to be followed. I’m not so free. It might look free, but it’s not…

GM: There’s always a process isn’t there, behind anyone who is highly proficient at what they do. What about the dressing side of things. Who taught you that? Did you learn that when you became a session stylist or…

KM: Other hairdressers influenced me but I think it was trial and error. At school I probably listened more than I knew that I did. At school we had to learn to do ‘hair up’ things, we had to learn to do a victory roll, I think I was always interested in fashion and I was always pushing those barriers anyway. So my finishing technique is more due to experience. I did do a stint with the wig maker at the Melbourne Theatre Company and he taught me a lot of things about how to make wigs. I used to just watch him. He was this big German guy and he used to let me come in and just muck around in the studio. He taught me how to change synthetic hair and how to make certain pieces look real so I probably learnt a bit from him as well.

GM: Yes, some of those theatre people do incredible things don’t they?

KM: They do things like make wigs out of fishing line. He always had fishing line in a bowl of hot water making it into a wig. In theatre you have the distance thing, it is seen from so far away but you can still take those same principles. Also, my mum was a hairdresser too so I probably spent a lot of time watching my mum do her own hair…

GM: Have you seen the Nagi Noda hair hats?

KM: No…

GM: I’ll show you. Really incredible, like animal heads that are made out of hair by this Japanese hair artist…so, how long did you spend working as a salon hairdresser?

KM: I probably stopped working as a salon hairdresser about 1993…about 16 years or so…

GM: And you stopped with the intention of being a session stylist?

KM: I was a session stylist early on in my career so I went though my apprenticeship. I left my hairdressing career and started working in advertising, doing hair and make-up on photo shoots. I didn’t really like doing make-up to tell you the truth, I’m not really a make-up person but at the time you sort of had to do both. Then we had a recession in Australia so I stopped doing that and went back to hairdressing…

GM: Did the work dry up?

KM: The work dried up. In a recession the first thing that goes is hair and make-up. It was a pretty dastardly recession in Australia, but then again, recession means opportunity. All of the work dried up and on Chapel Street in Melbourne there were all of these empty shops so I went to the bank and said I really want to open up a hair salon. They were like “You’re kidding? It’s the middle of a recession.” I was like “No. It’s going to be great!” So we opened a salon in the middle of a recession…

GM: What was that called?

KM: That was called Kusco Murphy and I first made products for that. I made a shampoo for that salon purely because I was unsatisfied with the…I was unsatisfied with the packaging because I had this gorgeous salon and all of the products were saying “Dull. Dry. Lifeless.” And I thought “That’s not me” and I didn’t think it was for my clients. I didn’t want them to be in the shower with products like that so I made a shampoo for my salon only, then a friend of mine was working for Barneys in New York and she said “I really want to take your shampoo to Barneys in New York.” I was like “Yeah, go for it!”

I wasn’t expecting anything to come of it. I had made about 500 bottles at this stage. Next thing a fax arrives with these orders for eight Barneys stores and they wanted me to come over and do a training and I thought “Oh my God, what do I do?” So I went backwards and forwards to New York a few times to do trainings. I didn’t know you had to do trainings, when I was a hairdresser we just bought the shampoo, we only had two products, there wasn’t the product onslaught that you’ve got now…which I’m probably responsible for as well! [laughs]. I ended up having to sell the salon because I became too busy with the products, I sold the salon to Michelle Kusco and had to go to America. I had to go because I couldn’t afford the PR so I had to go to America, work for the magazines and then pass them a product. At that time, that was for me, the best way to promote it. In a short space of time I was working for US Harpers Bazaar. In the US you have to come in and work at the top, you can’t start at the bottom. You must come in at the top and work your way down. It’s the opposite of what you think it might be…

GM: I understand the coming in at the top bit but what do you mean by working your way down?

KM: The top work you don’t get paid any money for. There is all of the amazing kudos for doing it but you don’t get paid any money for it, the jobs that you get well paid for, that you are just combing the hair are actually the very mainstream brands…

GM: Understand.

KM: A lot of people think it’s the other way around. Something that is really simple, just a pony tail in the hair, that’s at the end of your career when you are making all of the money and then everything that is really creative, amazing and cutting-edge is all at the beginning of your career.

GM: Getting into being a session stylist did you just kind of know that you were someone who wanted to explore hair?

KM: In that realm, yeah. I wanted to style hair, I like cutting hair, but for me, all of my haircuts are haircuts that you can style and change. I want to change the characteristics of someone’s hair. If someone comes to me and says “Cut all my hair off!” I’m like [recoils in fear] “ I need a Valium!” because it’s really distressing for me, more so than them. I enjoy cutting hair but I enjoy styling and pushing those limits a little bit further, and the only way you can do that is through photography because you can style someone’s hair but then [if they are not photographed] they just walk away…you need that to be immortalised, and it’s that moment that is so great about photography.

GM: It’s a nice thing isn’t it, the work you do being recorded…

KM: And then it stays there forever…

GM: I have been having a little think about how to define your style and I came up with this word; Texturalist. I see your style as inspired by classic setting and tonging techniques..

KM: Uh huh.

GM: …but you are finding a nice modern, gentle relevance for that. Would you agree?

KM: Yes. My title in the company is “Texture Master.” It’s a bit of a dungeons and dragons thing; you have texture masters, then session masters, then style masters. Your session master is someone who can coordinate a photo shoot. Your style master is someone who can coordinate a show. Then you have the keys to Kevin Murphy; the golden key, the diamond key and the platinum key, and you wear them around your neck. Then you have clues. The clue to Kevin Murphy. The key to Kevin Murphy. It’s a bit dungeons and dragons as I said but I wanted to bring a different language. I didn’t want [staff] with the title] Education Manager. Awww [grimaces]. That’s so frumpy…I don’t want to give them frumpy little teacher’s names…

GM: You obviously spend a lot of time thinking about those things within your business?

KM: Yes but it’s also…accidentally on purpose…which is a new collection we are going to do. I think that describes us well. It’s accidental but it’s really on purpose.

GM: Looking effortless and non-contrived…

KM: But really you’re tearing up inside. [laughs]

GM: I heard you mention yesterday that you liked finding old perming manuals, finding those old diagrammatic drawings and things. They’re quite interesting aren’t they?

KM: They can be inspirational, a little diagram can sometimes inspire you and turn you in another direction. The other day we found some old Toni & Guy stuff, just Stack Winds. When I looked at a Stack Wind I realised how to do a certain hairstyle that had always been bugging me – that big round curl that is big and voluminous without being retouched. It’s all based on perming techniques. So if you have got any of those books, I will pay good money for it! Even old cutting books. There’s not a lot of information about hairdressing, even at school, I can’t remember having books. Do you?

GM: No. And probably at the time, we would have thought it was too old-fashioned to even look through…

KM: Yeah… I remember thinking that I know everything [laughs].

GM: Because, to be truly inspired and look inside yourself rather than look at what other people are doing, I think it is necessary to find that…source material. Tell me about some of the people you have worked with…you’ve worked with Robert Erdmann haven’t you…

KM: Robert Erdmann, Patrick Demarchelier, Wayne Maser, Richard Bailey, Michelle Comte, Max Doyle. Probably one of the most fascinating photographers I have worked with is a lady called Donna Trope. She was a surrealist beauty photographer from California who lived in London and now, I think, lives in Paris. She did this story with the cigarette butt put out on the skin. French Vogue ran it, American Vogue ran it, everybody ran it. She was very extreme. I did a story with her called “There’s A Huntsman In My Handbag” with Rachel Griffiths,  the actress. It was all done with snakes, sharks, dingos, spiders – all of the dangerous animals in Australia. She would take hours to set up a photograph, her attention to detail was incredible, she could make an ugly, green office room look like this amazing, sleek place out of the future. Her photos are beautiful, but uncomfortable, to look at. Her photos would look like they were about to hurt but are quite attractive too…

GM: So you really enjoy working with artistic photographers?

KM: Yes, but I have worked with some photographers who should just be artists, and stay artists, and not try and be fashion photographers. Sometimes if they are too artistic they try and control the entire image and it becomes an artistic image, of them. Fashion is not art and it shouldn’t really be confused. It’s artistic but it is not really art. I’ve worked with some photographers who get very confused about that, they say they are making art but it is not really fashion and no one’s happy because…they’re getting paid essentially. It’s just like us thinking that we are artists because we are not, BUT, it is artistic…

GM: Right. An artist has a blank canvas. We have to work on people don’t we, we have their egos to deal with…

KM: We are a trade basically. I consider myself artistic but more of a tradesperson…

GM: In every era of fashion, we come to define beauty or what we think is beauty in a new way. Are you always thinking about that?

KM: I’m always thinking about the weirdness of beauty because a lot of the girls who are quite beautiful, are weird. I remember the first time I worked with Gemma Ward. We looked at her and I though “Oh, she look like a Koala, sort of cute.” Someone had cut her hair and it was very square. I was doing a shoot for Harpers Bazaar and I just pulled this square cut back and thought “Oh my God, this is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.” She has a heart-shaped face. The heart-shaped face was considered very beautiful in medieval times but we haven’t had that for some time – the big eyes and small mouth with the heart-shaped face. In real life you could tell that she was really pretty but she looked odd, if you know what I mean. She was also a master of posing…I pulled back her hair and thought she is just so beautiful. She doesn’t need any make-up or hair done really.

GM: You touch on an interesting point. We need to look at our overall place in the whole process and not be afraid to remove ourselves from the equation if we need to.

KM: I’m a firm believer that hair is an accessory. I’m a small cog in a big team, I hate it when the hair overpowers unless it is a hair or beauty shoot rather than a fashion shoot.

GM: Yes, a beauty shoot will really concentrate on hair and make-up…

KM: And nothing else. Robert [Erdmann] who I worked with a lot, he used to say that beauty has no place in reality so the great thing about a beauty shoot is that you can do something really weird, it looks really weird with the girl just standing there but then when you take the photo, it looks amazing.

GM: As you journeyed through your session career, did you create a name for yourself as a certain type of session stylist or were you Kev from Australia who had this little product range who could do any type of hair…?

KM: I was the king of beach hair. [laughs] That was my claim to fame in the early Nineties. When I was in New York I was considered to be the grungy guy from Australia who did the beach hair. Then in Sydney, I was considered too glamorous for Sydney, which was really weird, the fine line between glamorous and grungy!

GM: Did you adapt your work for each market?

KM: America likes big hair so the hair had to get bigger. You do adapt for each market and you do adapt for each magazine because some of the magazines are very conservative and some of them are very wild magazines. You can push it but you have to be aware of who you are shooting for. I like to push the commercial thing because you can be avant-garde but no one is going to wear it. With commercial magazines you can push that envelope within the boundaries.

GM: Let’s talk about the way you have oriented the Kevin Murphy product line. The range is all about style and texture support for nice touchable hair, it’s not super product-heavy, and it’s not all about moisture. We both know that fashion trends move on. Do you think you will develop other products as things change and people maybe go back to a product-heavy look?

KM: Well I am actually. [laughs] I’m always thinking about what’s next and I have got some products in development that are heavier, and more moisturising, and more evident. You have to change with the times.

GM: Consumers are gradually getting used to that drier hair, less done look. At a consumer level it could stick around for a while. It could be a decade long trend…

KM: It’s easier too. It may be the “flares” of the next decade…frizz for example is much harder [for the average person] to get, whereas natural and clean is easy and good…

GM: What happened after the Kusco-Murphy thing? You were doing session work in America and then what happened next for you?

KM: I had some partners and it didn’t work out. I had big plans for myself and they didn’t have the big plans I thought they did so I came back to Australia…

December 4th, 2009

Press Clipping: Long, loose and braided

A Greg Murrell how-to: long, loose and braided. By Helene Ravlich from her blog:  mshelene.com on Friday October 30, 2009.

One of my favourite hair looks that emerged this year from the catwalks internationally has been the long, loose wave, braids optional. If you have long hair it is often a struggle to look like you’ve actually got a “style” as opposed to just a lot of hair, and this a perfect look that is both easy to achieve as well as super feminine, if that’s your bag. The talented Greg Murrell and his team from Ryder salon in Central Auckland created a perfectly tousled example of this at a recent Stolen Girlfriends Club show, and I got the low down on how it was achieved.

“The look is wavy with a dry, dusty texture and features a braid across the whole of the front hairline. There is some height at the top with the volume through the sides being reduced by the addition of two plaited headbands made from hair which contrast slightly in colour to the natural hair. This is designed to fit the theme of nomadic abandonment.

Hair is sprayed liberally with KMS California Sea-salt spray and twisted in large sections. Then the hair was dried using a dryer, but taking care to keep it in the twists. When dry, repeat the process to build up the product texture.

Take a 1.5 inch wide section just in front of the right ear and start braiding a two strand twist right across the front hairline towards the left ear and ending at the nape. Fasten the end of the braid with a clip to prevent unravelling.

Now back-brush to the roots on top of the head for volume.

Place hair with your hands and then place the first headband in position at the high recession, wrapping it around the head. Take the second headband and place it just behind the right ear and wrap it to the other side. Fix both headbands in position by sewing them in place.

Finish by using KMS California Dry Wax for texture.”

November 27th, 2009

Press Clipping: Simply Styled

By Janetta Mackay, The New Zealand Herald, 18/11/2009

The mood in hair is very free flowing, very natural,” says Greg Murrell from Ryder salon. But that doesn’t just mean letting it all hang out if you want to look pulled together at your next party. He says the up-do has come back into relevance, but in a looser, messier way.

Luckily, the award-winning stylist is happy to share some DIY tips on how to achieve that air of uncontrived elegance. Murrell says the secret to home-styling success is to choose one of four simple techniques to add interest for a special occasion. He recommends making a twist, braid, roll or ponytail as the foundation to your look. “Most party looks would come from one of those four things.”

By breaking down what you’re trying to do into manageable steps it will become easier to accomplish. Murrell says clean hair doesn’t “do much” so it’s important to create texture in the hair before you start creating a style. A volumising product is needed and this can be added in when hair is being dried, or afterward. (Murrell likes KMS Sculpting Lotion and says this is lighter than a mousse, but what to use depends on hair type and preference, it just shouldn’t weigh things down too much, instead giving lift and adding movement).

Tongs can be used to randomly create waves, by bending hair around the tong. For curls, he prefers using a proper curling iron to flat plates.

Having on hand a few inexpensive sectioning clips is another tip to help achieve a good finish. “You definitely need to work on areas one at a time.” Clipping back the areas you’ve yet to come to come to makes styling easier. Murrell says it’s best to begin working on the back by sectioning off the top pieces, then come to the front and top last.

The twist: Good secure pinning is the secret to making twists work. Take sections of hair and twist them round and backwards. Secure with a bobby pin to the place where you’ve created tension as you hold the hair. One side of the pin should go into the extended hair near the scalp and the other side into the hair end you’re holding. You shouldn’t need a lot of pins if you’re making loose twists and don’t be afraid to let pieces fall round the face. “Don’t overdress the hair,” says Murrell.

The braid: Because most women know how to plait or braid hair, this a good style to experiment with. Try to avoid pulling hair too tight. “What’s cool about braiding now, is not braiding the whole thing,” says Murrell, who used braids to good effect at the Stolen Girlfriends Club show at New Zealand Fashion Week.

Braids can be added at the side or top, creating a different texture from the loose hair. Twist them up and back and pin in place.

A single braid can be worked across the forehead or up from the ear or two roughly symmetrical braids pinned back and brought together at the ends.

The roll: A derivative of the classic French roll or pleat can be achieved by sectioning off hair, back brushing it, smoothing the surface, then rolling it down to the head and pinning it down. This takes a bit of practise, compared with the other looks on the page, but it’s an impressive and timeless style. Rolls can go from the back into the middle of the hair or from the top back.

Murrell used the rolled look for two Zambesi shows he worked on, one at Australian Fashion Week and the other for the label’s 30-year retrospective show in September. His website has a how-to at www.rydersalon.com

The ponytail: The ponytail is the easiest of all styles to play with. Set high, the ends can be wrapped round into a loose bun or set the tie low and twist the hair into a chignon. Left free, tong the pony into swinging shape. A messy look can be had by blasting hair with a hairdryer.

Short hair: Texture is key to making short hair interesting. Dry and volumise and use a finishing product to mould a shape. The heat from your hand will help create shape and movement, rather than just letting it fall flat.

The finishing touch:

Hairspray has its place for big occasion dressing, such as a wedding where you might want hair to stay in place all day, but for party styles, don’t go for anything too stiff or sticky. (Murrell likes to finish off with KMS California Dry Wax, which has a lightweight, pliable, matte hold.)

“It’s not a product-heavy time,” says Murrell.

September 23rd, 2009

Press Clipping: Backstage Beauty at Zambesi: Moor Magnificence

By Catherine Smith, The New Zealand Herald, September 23 2009

Photo by Nicole Saunders

One day I’ll be a Zambesi person, spending my winters stomping about bleak moors, reading Jack Kerouac, going to my friends’ installations in groovy warehouses in the back of Grey Lynn. Cool, dark, and very very clever.

Hair

When you’ve worked with the Zambesi guys for over twelve years, as Greg Murrell from Ryder Salon has done, you’re bound to completely get their aesthetic. And when the brief is super-straight hair, not hanging about the girls’ faces, you don’t merely comb the hair back.

You do something clever and Zambesi-like and totally sharp: sleek back the hair and stitch the hair into the nape of the neck (yes, actual needles and threads and a smocking-type weave – don’t even think how you’ll undo that at the end of the night) to create the cleanest, most sculptural look we’d seen all day.

The crown hair is pulled back, flattened and twisted so there is nothing coming forward, but still a little movement to the front (the reason why became apparent when the models were projected on mega-sized screens as a back drop to the stage).

The boys’ hair was to look “grooved”, like someone had run their fingers through their soft, pretty locks (if only we’d had the chance).

Makeup

Amber D’s M.A.C team also knows their Zambesi ropes, going for simple, simple makeup: a light base skin with Studio Sculpt, one loose black shadow under the eye and some soft highlights on skin and eyebrow in nude cream, a little of the same on the lips.

That’s all – well, that plus a clear casting decision to find girls with an Eastern European, slightly dark-but-cheekboney look. And boys who were even more beautiful than the girls, in a broody Heathcliff-y way.

Take home tips

You may not have an embroiderer on hand to stitch your locks to your head, but you can think sleek, pulled-back bottom hair, with a twisted bun or ponytail on top.

Work on your cheekbones and do not do the Kiwi-girl dangling hair in front of your face thing.

September 7th, 2009

rydermusic

rydermusic

A selection of the music that we are currently loving here at Ryder.

-Alela Diane- To be still

Beautiful hybridised folk from a Portland, Oregon  native with a spectacular voice.

-The Duke and the King – The Duke and the King

Hushed, deliberately paced acoustic music perfect for sitting around a fireplace. A compelling soulful folk record.

-Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals

From NYC, a unique form of indie rock world music inspired by Byrne and Eno’s late 70’s rhythmic output mixed with ethereal pop harmonies.

-Chris Bell – I am the Cosmos

The only solo album  Chris Bell crafted before  his untimely death in 1978, Cosmos is a melancholic and poignant record of soft rock and power pop inspired by the Anglo-Pop of  The Beatles.

-Cass McCombs - Catacombs

Aurally hypnotic folk and bedroom pop with sparse arrangements and direct lyrics.

-Dark Was The Night – Compilation

A 31 song collection of folkie tunefulness from many of the heavy hitters of American Indie Music which benefits the Red Hot charity.

-The XX – XX

Slow, furtive electronic pop music strongly influenced by modern R&B.

-Miike Snow- Miike Snow

Low key, piano laden melancholy forms a set of dancefloor lullabies which are intelligent, satisfying and extremely listenable.

-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Phoenix

A densely textured bricolage of pop rock with much emotional resonance from 4 frenchmen mining the American song idiom.

-Kitsune Tabloid – Selected by Phoenix

A mixtape-style compilation documenting some of the band’s influences, taking in a diverse set of artists from Roxy Music to The Impressions to Robert Wyatt & D’Angelo.

August 31st, 2009

Michael Parekowhai – The Consolation of Philosophy

As part of an ongoing series of installations and to celebrate our tenth birthday, Michael has installed his Consolation of Philosophy series at Ryder. Following is a description of the works courtesy of Michael Lett Gallery

THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY 2001

THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY - Piko nei te matenga (when our heads are bowed with woe)

The titles of these works all refer to places in France and Flanders where the Pioneer Maori Battalion made a contribution in World War I. During the Great War most Maori soldiers were not conscripted into the army but ‘volunteered’ for military service. The right to take up arms and fight for God, for King and for country was regarded by many both as a sacred obligation and as an opportunity for adventure. Death on the killing fields of Western Europe was believed to be a ‘just price’ which would secure for Maori the same privileges and recognition that Pakeha already enjoyed at home. This work is also about how Maori initiatives that help to shape the course of mainstream history making have a tendency to get ‘left out’ of popular accounts of the fact. Not many people know that it was Maori skill in engineering and logistics while under prolonged bombardment and gas attack which gave the Anzac troops the nickname, ‘Digger’. However, the use of flower symbolism in this work memorialises much more than just the war exploits of our glorious dead. It is also about re-claiming a pre-Pakeha Maori appreciation of the floral as an authentic badge of masculinity. Our family name ‘Pare-kowhai’ literally means ‘Garland of yellow’ (kowhai of course) and was won for us by a great warrior, who was as much a conqueror in the field of love, as he was a conqueror in the field of war. In this work the ability to express a sensitivity to, and a respect for, ‘flowers’, is seen as a staunch affirmation of manliness made only by true sons and grandsons of ‘real’ men. Cushla Parekowhai

June 19th, 2009

Press Clipping: Friends of FrontRowDiary: Greg Murrell – A Passion for Hair

This Saturday the 20th of June, premium NZ hair salon, Ryder, celebrates a decade in the business.

Ryder’ s Director Greg Murrell has been keying looks for Zambesi for 12 years as well as being the only Kiwi selected to work on hair industry giant Kms California’s global artistic team. Greg was recently awarded a Master of the Craft Award from the Australian Fellowship for Hairdressing and this week FRD is proud to have Greg as our guest contributor.


From  FrontRowDiary.Com  19June 2009

“In a craft like hairdressing, one of the most exciting moments is when you realise that you are no longer operating out of repetition of learned technique. Your hands no longer work in such a mechanical way but become conduits for what you are thinking and feeling. I always say that hands are the best hairdressing tool ever invented.

When I was first learning, everything I did seemed forced. I was scared of the hair. Scared to make mistakes. But gradually, freedom came. I learned to trust my instincts. I developed my own sensitivity to hair and connected to my own creative soul. I started to look for what would make people look individual. The idea of imperfection became important to me.

The celebrity influence on hairstyle trends is huge. Sometimes I wish more people could just go their own way with what they do with their hair. The cult of celebrity seems like such an old and boring idea to me and defining your look by this seems strange. We are now confronted with so much media that it is harder for one to be truly individual with their hair. Ideas scream around in cyberspace so quickly that ironically it takes all of us further away from who we individually are because we are spending too much time trying to look like someone else!

Just like in fashion, what is considered ugly/beautiful or interesting/boring in hair depends on what moment you are examining this. As with any trend, the moment an idea truly hits the mainstream, the innovators head in the opposite direction. A new mood or moment arrives out of this and often it is something I would have dismissed 6 months previously.

But unlike fashion, a bad idea in hair is not something that is easy to remove like a garment. Making ideas work on a human head is challenging as ultimately it is always about making people look good. Something nags at me inside if I feel like I didn’t make someone look and feel good.

For me to do this successfully, I had to develop my own philosophies around my practice. So I try to connect to the individual character of a head of hair. If I do something really strong, then I will usually add a soft component as a balance. I’ll usually choose one aspect where I will focus my attention. Everything then fits to that. I like my imprint on the hair to be invisible. The hair does not look like it has been cut or done. The individual is wearing the hair, the hair is not wearing them”.

Written by Greg Murrell

Photo’s by Damien van der Vlist

Styling by Atip W

Makeup by Amber D for M.A.C

April 24th, 2009

Press Clipping: Man of the Moment

By Zoe Walker, The New Zealand Herald, Friday April 24 2009.

Photo by Babiche Martens.

Hairstylist Greg Murrell is a well-known face within our local fashion and hair industries - and now his work is being acknowledged internationally, with a Master’s Award from the Australian Fellowship of Hairdressers.

Murrell, who owns Auckland hair salon Ryder, was given his award at the Australian Hair Fashion Awards at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night. One recipient from Britain, Australia and New Zealand is selected to win the annual award, which acknowledges “masters of the craft in hairdressing”. The fellowship said that Murrell’s 25-year career “highlights the very essence of what the Master’s Award recognises” and called him “one of New Zealand’s finest”.

This year is shaping up to be a momentous one for Murrell - as well as winning the award he also celebrates the 10th year of business for his Auckland salon. He opened Ryder in 1999 after working with Paul Huege de Serville at Servilles for 13 years. “Paul gave me great training, and taught me that if you are passionate enough about something, you will be successful. The time came along when I needed to escape, so to speak, as by this stage I’d developed many of my own ideas about things. So I took the plunge and opened Ryder… It’s been quite a journey!”

He counts the relaxed ambience of the salon as key to it’s ongoing success. “Going to the hairdresser is an escape from your life, so it needs to feel very comfortable and unhurried.” He clearly knows what he’s doing: he has clients who have been coming to him for almost 20 years.”I really think that these relationships with clients become like friendships which endure,” he says.

But it’s not just his work at Ryder that has shaped his career - Murrell works as an educator and is the New Zealand artistic director for KMS California. He also works extensively with local fashion brands and publications to create hair looks for editorial, fashion shows and campaigns and has worked with the likes of Black Magazine, Stolen Girlfriends Club and Zambesi, which is something he clearly loves.

“It’s a great feeling to be acknowledged,” he says. “I remember quite distinctly starting out in my career and looking up at all these highly skilled people who I wanted to emulate. I guess I can say that I got there! This sort of career acknowledgement isn’t something I expected or aimed for, but I have worked in a very passionate and energetic way since my career began. It’s nice that someone was watching!”

April 20th, 2009

Film: Greg Murrell:25 to Life

A 2 minute showreel produced to accompany Greg’s Master of the Craft Award from the Fellowship for Australian Hairdressing, April 20 2009.