Blondes and brunettes beware -- red hair is all the rage this spring. (Thanks, Coco!) Get swept up this season in the crimson tide.
Red is not for the faint of heart. This high-drama hue is passion and a dose of danger all wrapped up in one. So when model-of-the-moment Coco Rocha traded her brunette locks for ginger, there was only one way to keep it quiet until her big reveal: wigs and scarves. In recent fashion shoots, Coco has rocked a daring coppery red, which promises to be the most coveted shade of the season. “Red is the colour of 2009!” enthuses colourist Louis Licari, who transformed the Vancouver-born beauty at his Manhattan salon. “She embraced the change,” he recalls of Coco’s
attitude. “Her line of the day was ‘Should we leave the colour on for another five minutes?’ I thought I might have to chase her from the chair, but I was too smitten to see her go.” The exact formulas are his little secret, but he will disclose that he used a vibrant, pigment-rich Wella on the ends and a more subdued Clairol on the roots.
Signs of scarlet fever can also be spotted in Hollywood, where Isla Fisher and Amy Adams are making waves, and were seen on the spring runways as well. But this red revival is only the latest chapter in a historical love-hate affair with the shade. From the strawberry-blond cascade of curls in Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus to Titan’s glorious copper-haired goddesses, the look telegraphs feminine perfection as much as lusty temptation. Seen
as hot-blooded, hot-tempered or just plain hot, redheads command
power. (“Out of the ash I rise with my red hair / And eat men like air,” wrote Sylvia Plath.) But is the mystique fact or fiction? “Over the years, I have found that natural redheads are a bit misunderstood,” says Marcy Cona, creative director of colour and style for Clairol. “In my experience, a natural redhead tends to be a bit shy or quiet. However, a person who chooses a bright-red shade to colour her hair generally has a big personality and is confident and looking to be noticed.” For spring 2009, the most popular reds are warm and rich and work really well with medium- to light-brown hair, says Cona. “Red hair has many personalities,” agrees Licari. “It can be funny, sultry or even serious.” But, above all, red is rare beauty, bestowed by nature on a mere two percent of mortals. It’s an instant exclamation mark. “Always remember: If you choose to be red, you choose to be noticed,” says Licari.
Red is the colour of 2009! -- colourist Louis Licari
