Guido Palau

Guido Palau's name has been omnipresent throughout fashion week, having shaped the coiffures for a monumental 33 shows, from Marc by Marc Jacob's björk-esque bantu knots and Alexander McQueen's geisha-girl buns to Maison Martin Margiela's just-out-the-shower kinks, a soaking wet, quite sinister trademark style for the Dorset-born hairdresser. Palau made his name in the nineties for his unique avant-garde take on youth culture, along with photographer David Sims. Together they created a signature aesthetic synonymous with the decade that continues to ripple throughout fashion, inspired by punk, new wave and gothic subcultures of the time. It is a rebellious free-spirit that Palau has never lost, fusing with all manner of references, from Japanese art to pagan mythology. Now Redken Global Style Director, he is responsible for some of the most iconic hairstyles of the past decade, from the Alexander McQueen basket weave in 2009, to Valentino's halo braids in 2012. As the dust settles on fashion week, Palau sat down with AnOther to answer Jefferson Hack's unique version of the Proust questionnaire.

What are you thinking of right now?
Getting back to New York.

What makes you laugh?
Modern family.

What makes you cry?
Not much.

What do you consider to be the greatest invention?
The comb.

Do you have a mentor or inspirational figure that has guided or influenced you?
David Bowie.

Where do you feel most at home?
New York.

Where are you right now?
London.

What is your proudest achievement in work?
I think it is more my continuing work, and continuing to work with creative people that I admire.

What is your proudest achievement in life?
I don't know yet. Maybe I haven't got there.

"What’s the best advice you’ve been given? To keep on pushing myself and never rest on my laurels"

What do you most dislike about contemporary culture?
Instagram.

What do you most like about the age we live in?
People live longer.

At what points do life and work intersect?
There is no separation for me.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
To keep on pushing myself and never rest on my laurels.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
I'm not sure. I'm not a risk taker.

Recommend a book or poem that has changed your perspective on life?
It's not a book or a poem, but something by Morrissey.

What is your earliest childhood memory
Getting my hand stuck behind the cooker. I still have a scar there. I remember having to pull it out, I think I was about four.

What’s the most important relationship in your life?
Probably the one with myself. Finding out about myself and growing.

What’s the most romantic action you’ve taken?
Pass.

What’s the most spiritual action you’ve taken?
Learning to be at one with myself. I practise medition, so learning to be calm and centred.

If you could wish for one change in the world what would it be?
There are so many crazy things going on in the world at the moment. It sounds cliché, but if people could stop killing one another.