Brent Lavett: Hair, Texture and the Fashion Image

Archive note: This is a newly written account of hairstylist Brent Lavett using dated publications. The earlier Grandpa Style feature and its photographs are not reproduced here.

Hair and the fashion image

Hair is part of how a fashion image takes shape. Its outline, movement and finish can reinforce the structure of a jacket or introduce a more relaxed element around the face. Brent Lavett’s published advice and editorial credits offer a useful way into this often-overlooked part of styling.

In its 26 March 2015 feature Brushes With Greatness, MR PORTER introduced Lavett as a barber and owner of the Brooklyn-based grooming brand Lavett & Chin. Discussing John Legend’s hairstyle, he emphasized the relationship between a cut and the wearer’s face, including choosing the top length with a barber.

Shape before a fixed formula

Lavett also contributed to Teen Vogue’s guide to beachy waves, published on 14 May 2014. His section addressed wavy-curly hair and described an interpretation with greater volume, definition and an intentionally disheveled texture.

Read together, these two contributions suggest a useful editorial principle: begin with the person and the hair’s existing character. A reference photograph can start a conversation about shape, but the relevant choices depend on what is already there.

Working inside a fashion team

A separate 2015 credit places Lavett within a fashion production. In its 2 April report on GQ Style Taiwan’s Nude Beginning (Less is More), MALE MODEL SCENE named Chiun-Kai Shih as photographer, Matt Terry as model and Christopher Campbell as stylist. It credited hair to Brent Lavett for Lavett & Chin, with makeup by Yumi Kaizuka.

Those separate roles matter when reading an editorial. The finished image brings together decisions about clothing, hair, makeup, lighting and pose. Following the credits makes the contribution of each discipline easier to recognize.

Reading the whole look

For Grandpa Style, this is a reason to look beyond the garment alone. Consider the space around a collar, the outline above a shoulder and the contrast between a controlled cut and looser clothing. These are prompts for looking at an image, rather than rules that every outfit must follow.

Related archive reading

Our Masculine / Feminine archive note also examines the recorded credits of an earlier fashion editorial. Browse the Archive for more on the people and projects behind clothing and design.