There’s been many a hair makeover lately—Coco Rocha, Lindsey Wixson, and Constance Jablonski have all brushed several inches off their shoulders, and our own Brittany Adams spotted Ava Smith sporting buttery strands at several castings (shown at top). And who could forget the Karlie, the bob that got everyone abuzz backstage at the Victoria’s Secret show this past November? All in all, a simple cut-and-color appointment carries a lot more weight when you’re a model—especially if you’re trying to break into the runway scene, like 17-year-old Solomiya Zgoda (shown below Smith), a relatively fresh face at Ford Models from Ukraine.
Zgoda’s agency tasked hairstylist Pasquale Ferrante and colorist Mauricio Bermudez of Ion Studio in Soho with creating an ambiguous look with a balance of femininity and virility. The salon is no stranger to the women of the runway; Ferrante recently chopped model (and girlfriend to Jake Gyllenhaal) Alyssa Miller’s long hair, and the rest of the team has done everything from touch-ups to total overhauls for at least fifty other catwalkers this season. (The place was packed with ladies well over 5'9" when I was there on Friday—and they were certainly too lithe to be basketball players.)
Bermudez’s inspiration for Zgoda’s hue was virgin winter snow—he cocktailed his toner with hints of ash and violet to make it as pastel as possible. “The color has varying tones and an iridescence—like the inside of a seashell or metallic car paint—that looks good under the lights on the runway,” he explains. As for the choppy crop, Ferrante said he wanted to give her something edgy and set her apart from the many girls with collarbone-grazing cuts available to casting directors. According to her agent, Ali Fordham, this platinum pixie has been a head-turner thus far—she’s on option for several shows. Looks like nobody’s putting this blonde baby in the corner for Spring ’14.
