What do Adam Driver, Aziz Ansari, and Cameron Dallas all have in common? That’s right, their hairstylist!
AXE Hair Celebrity Stylist, Amy Komorowski, grooms some of the biggest A-listers in Hollywood & travels around the world to ensure these guys look & feel their best. From traveling with celebs, press days, to the best tricks for quick touch ups, AXE Hair Celebrity Hairstylist Amy Komorowski knows it all.
Did you work on any shows during men’s fashion week?
I don’t really do much for men’s fashion week anymore, I did in the past cause I’ve been working with my clients all week. I work with mostly actors and musicians.
When did that start?
Oh gosh, 15 years ago or something.
Do you remember who your first men’s grooming client was?
Joaquin Phoenix was my first men’s client, he was great, amazing actor I love him. I’ve been doing hair and make up for 18 years; I’ve been living in New York for 20. And when I got started, men’s grooming wasn’t even really a niche.
Lets say I’m coming in to meet you and I’ve got a movie premiere coming up, what’s the time line like how soon should I be talking to you about looks for that premiere?
It actually all happens organically right at the moment, I think, unless it’s a musician where that image is really talked about. Mostly for a red carpet event people think there’s all this time to sit and think about things. I’m giving haircuts at that moment and sometimes they’re like shave off my mustache, lets get rid of the facial hair, I need a haircut. With musicians you’re definitely collaborating more with the clothing stylist and that’s more of a conversation, but mostly with my actors, most of my guys they’re just laid back. Like I show up and it just happens right then and there.
Let’s say it’s an actor are you presented with a directive from the actor? Like I want to make sure this certain thing is preserved?
Yeah every client is different some of my clients have a really strong sense of just fashion, style, and they know what they want and I’m just there to facilitate that. Other times they’re open to what I want, sometimes there’s limitations because they’re shooting something and you can’t cut their hair, you can’t get rid of the facial hair, that’s where products really come in handy with hair products you can really mold something out of — say the hair is kind of a bushy mess you’re going to have to do something with it. Being stylist, you’re a little bit of a MacGyver. The hardest part of the job is thinking on your feet very quickly and coming up with solutions. You don’t get a lot of time.
Maybe sometimes for a commercial or an ad job there will be, things will be sent around or for a photo shoot the photographer might contact you, might be a mood board. If there’s anything in particular that they want you to bring. But with being a stylist, freelance stylist there’s certain variables and very few constants. My constant is that I have my kit stocked, so I deal with skincare, hair, everything. I get an address of where I need to be and I got to get there on time, fight through the biggest character of them all New York City and I could be either at their home or their hotel room or a photo studio or sometimes when I’m with a client all day we get our day started at The Today Show and you’re thrown into a little room that’s 2 by 4. And I’ve groomed everywhere, I’ve groomed men sitting on toilets cause we only have a small little bathroom, I’ve groomed in the back of cars. I walk into a place and I’m constantly looking for an outlet, I’ve got to make sure I have an outlet, do I need my extension cord and we go from there and sometimes I don’t have a lot of time and that’s a great thing with working with men is that I think that they transform easily with a few little things. Cleaning up side burns, maybe a quick hair trim. Using just one hair product like using an Axe Pomade or a universal product like the Axe Messy Look — any guy can use that product. Just getting a little bit of product in their hair but every situation and every client presents a unique set of experiences and obstacles.
Has there ever been a scenario when you style someone and they’re like this isn’t it?
No I think maybe in the fashion world you might defend your choice a little bit more maybe on an editorial shoot where people hire you to have a strong sense of opinion. You know working as a freelance hair stylist men’s groomer my clients’ happiness is number one. I need to make them look the best they can be but if they want something it’s really not my job to talk them out of it. That’s how I have approached my job for 18 years, but definitely if there’s something really wrong going on, you’re not going to allow your client to step out on a red carpet. But I think that’s why I get hired cause people know they’re in good hands and I’m professional and I’ve been doing this a long time. I start the conversation off pretty easily, anything you like or you don’t like? And I kind of have to create that rapport right away, if I’ve never worked with them. I kind of get a vibe for what they want, I’m like oh okay, I can go all out, I know I can use a hair dryer and get the product out and some guys just want to be done very quickly. So I really have to get a feel and a read on people, whether to be chatty, whether to be quiet, whether to offer up all my tips and tricks or whether to just ease into it. It’s a relationship with people, that’s the toughest part of the job and then you have to be able to come through with the skills.
Is there a guiding principle that you try to let happen in each look? It seems like you have a tendency to kind of let the hair accent and the face be fresh and open.
Yeah I mean I’ve got a New York aesthetic where it looks like it just happened on its own and it looks like someone wasn’t trying too hard. I’ve never been a big fan of overly bronzed or too overly coiffed. I don’t always believe in rules cause sometimes that really works too especially with musicians. A really strong mustache or a crazy Mohawk or something like that may really work. But I started working with women and I worked a lot on beauty campaigns kind of like that natural makeup, of course I used a lot of makeup but I made it look like it wasn’t and so that’s kind of my guiding principle with men’s grooming, if I show a picture of a guy is that they don’t notice the grooming, it’s just they notice that the guy just looks so handsome and pulled together and they say what did you even do? It shouldn’t look like a guy came through a men’s groomer. It should just look like they almost did it themself. I kind of like that, maybe even a little bit of an English quality too.
Do you have any influences or inspirations?
I’m definitely a big fan of film, if I had any advice to young up and coming stylists is to just get out there and watch films of not your generation and know the classics and go to museums, know art, know what’s going on in pop culture. If you’re on the subway don’t always look at your phone, look around at people. I think someone asked me do I go to certain magazines or sites, or do I follow certain people on Instagram? I really somehow just get all my inspiration from living. From taking it all in.
Why do you think that some guys aren’t into grooming?
I think with guys too it’s definitely changing, Axe found that most guys still don’t style their hair. And that’s why I think men’s grooming is the biggest expanding market in the beauty world. I think the fact that men maybe were afraid or didn’t want to look like they were trying too hard. You know girls sit around and they ask oh where did you get this or how do you do this? We pass our tricks of the trade around but men maybe they don’t have that dialogue. So now with social media and Pinterest and you know with just the Internet those sources are available to them but I think when men feel confident, they look confident and we live in a metropolitan city so sometimes we live in our own bubble where we just think that every guy knows the trends and not wearing socks with shoes and the length of pants but when you go somewhere else in the world or the country I think everyone’s catching on.
Do you have any universal tips to start people on that path towards feeling a little more confident or at least looking the part?
Yeah, you can get a great haircut.
Is it true that face shape is an important part?
Head shape. Definitely the head shape, that provides the stylist with the shape of the angles whether it’s going to be rounded or square. Some guys need more height up in the front; some guy’s hair can lay flat. Certain facial hairs bring out the jaw line. Yeah really the shape of the head is important but a great haircut, don’t be afraid to try a few people, to ask around and try to use at least one hair product. I have short hair and if I didn’t put hair product in my hair it would just be like a round poofy mess. I have a great haircut, I love who cuts my hair but hair grows out and you need to add a little bit of texture and a little bit of shine. Just pulls everything together. Hair I think is the first thing people notice.