Cutler Salon First Assistant Soiree - New York's Leading Salon Celebrate Freedom of Hair Expression

 New York

There are so many carbon copy hair trends out there, but the era of me-too hair styles will not cut it at the Cutler Salon. David Kastin and Rodney Cutler, Owners of Cutler Salon, knows this more than anyone. They believe education equals empowerment.

“The industry itself is my beauty icon because it forces you to continuously evolve and reinvent yourself. If you’re not being innovative you will be left behind very quickly. At Cutler, we celebrate the spirit of individuality,” said Rodney Cutler. At Cutler, an educational program is set up where all the employees are trained. Every Monday the assistants learn more with David and Francesca, the education director. David expressed how drawing inspiration from the things around us helps produce creativity. “I walk the streets to ethnic neighborhoods like Harlem or China Town to see how different ethnicities wear their hair.” The last place David attended that evoked inspiration was a museum.  

For the last seven years, the Cutler Salon has celebrated freedom of hair expression by imitating a fashion show for the professional hair stylists. David gave for the first time his assistants the opportunity to apply the techniques learned in class in a real life runway show/shoot. Two assistants were paired up; one was the cutter and the other the colorist to promote their motto: sexy health hair.

The first Assistant Soiree took place at the Soho location 465 W. Broadway (Prince and W. Houston Sts.). David and Francesca contacted top makeup artists, a wardrobe stylist, and a photographer for the big night. The bright neon seats screamed edgy fashion forward salon as the makeup artist got to work on the models.

One model in particular, Nina, was anxious about the whole experience. “I have never worn makeup before and I have never modeled,” said Nina in a shaky voice as the makeup artist gave her a soft smoky eye look. Vanessa Hernaiz, the colorist in this experiment felt that Nina’s transformation was the simplest from all models. Brad and Vanessa were inspired by their models first makeover experience.

Others were inspired by things like French Couture, Italian Vogue, southern belles, ballerinas, and 1980’s female skin heads also known as a feather cut. Nogoc and Elizabeth looked for inspiration from the past for their model Jessica Tun. “We were inspired by the clean lines of the 60’s graduated bob with warm tones and low tones to emphasize the cut.”

It was 6 p.m. the whole Cutler staff were there waiting the first ever assistant soiree. It was their time to shine and show off their hard work and talent. The attendees sat on the sidelines, some with glasses of wine in their hands, others sporting a smile from ear to ear. The flashing lights from the photographer and the upbeat tempo for the radio gave an energetic start to the show. All the prepping and priming came to a halt and models were ready to grace the mini runway. David called the models one by one and each one stirred up a different emotion in the audience.
David offered what this experience meant to him. “It is important to continue an assistant soiree at least twice a year because these are the new wave of hair stylists that will one day work as professional hair stylist at the Cutler Salon.” For more information please visit http://cutlersalon.com/