Fashion Week: Backstage At Lela Rose

On the third day of Fashion Week, I woke up early and headed over to the tents. Outside, it may have been a sleepy Sunday morning, but backstage at Lela Rose, it was bustling.

I wasn’t originally scheduled to cover the Lela Rose show, but after being rebuffed at Alexandre Herchcovitch, Julia let me take her place (merci, Julia!) while she caught up on some beauty sleep. So imagine my surprise/excitement when I see the Ted Gibson – not one of his senior stylists – styling the models hair. I couldn’t believe my luck. Standing there in the presence of greatness, I couldn’t form words. So I snapped some amateur-ish photos and psyched myself up to talk to him. Ted must have sensed my nervousness, so he asked, “Do you wanna talk to me?”


Ted Gibson blowdries model's hair


Ted curls model's hair with medium barrel curling iron


Lela Rose and Ted Gibson

I slowly approached him while wildly fumbling in my bag for my notepad and pen, but was quickly put at ease by his friendly charm. It turns out that Ted, besides being a hair styling genius, is unbelievably down-to-earth and welcoming. He even told me I looked familiar, which warmed my heart – since he spends most of his time surrounded by models and celebs.

I quizzed him about the inspiration for the collection, to which he replied, “it’s Jerry Hall meets Park Avenue.” He continued on, adding that the hair concept was actually Lela’s. “It’s so nice to work with a designer who has such a clear sense of direction,” he said. “Lela really knows who her customer is, and her collection reflects that.”

To achieve the look - which Ted described as “sporty rather than contrived” – hair was blown out with Build It Blow Drying Agent, which imparts body, bold movement and intense shine to the hair. Next hair was curled with a medium-barrel curling iron, then he back-combed the roots “to create volume and texture at the scalp.” To set the style, Ted spritzed hair with Beautiful Hold, his gardenia-scented hairspray.

Finally, locks were smoothed with a paddle brush, styled into a half up/half down style, and finished off with a few swipes of Hair Sheet Treatment – to “rebuild and revitalize.” Before concluding the interview, I asked Ted about his celebrity hair muses – to which he replied: Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway (whose hair he styled for the Miss Sixty show), Joy Bryant, Gabrielle Union, and Debra Messing.


Beauty.com celebrity makeup artist Tina Turnbow created the sporty socialite look with products from NARS.

Models wore:

Eyes: Kaliste Eyeliner Pencil (teal) and Paris Eyeshadow Duo (silver shimmer and matte gray)
Cheeks: Dolce Vita Blush* (dusty rose)
Lips: Misbehave Lip Gloss** (sheer cherry red with gold shimmer) and Greek Holiday Lip Gloss (shimmering pink sand)

*new for Fall 2008
**new for Summer 2008