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Andy’s ‘crowning’ moment
Andy Uffel’s arrival in Karachi came with its fair share of hype and drama: the Monsoon season in full outburst, a delayed flight and water-logged city streets and neighbourhoods. The result, after much a-do, was a telephonic interview with the much-awaited hairstylist and Global Pantene Artistic Director and Consultant for Hair Care and Technology.
With a flimsy Googled-up visual of the man in mind, I half expected a deep — perhaps even domineering — rumble through the lines. But the surprises kept coming as a hesitant, heavily accented “hello” crackled across amid the static.
An exchange of greetings and the rendezvous has already picked up a comfortable level of mirth and friendly banter. Is he weary after the flight? “Not really. The journey was quite nice.” Is he up for a telephonic interview? “Of course, by all means.” It will not be an irksome conversation after all.
Andy starts off with the very basics — hailing from Amsterdam, he has studied in the USA, Holland and the UK. His career took off almost two decades ago when he started a couple of salons and managed to work on international forums for Wella and Pantene. Luck accompanied the hard work and he won quite a number of competitions and titles such as the ‘Stylist of the Year’ in the Netherlands, ‘Hairdresser of the Year’ in Amsterdam and ‘World Champion’.
Presently, he is involved in a business partnership and is running a chain of salons by the title of ‘B’, based in Amsterdam and Holland. And what is his exact nature of work in Pakistan? “I was invited by Pantene to do a workshop and to educate people about hair.” As to what he has in store for the workshop, he says, “I will be showing three haircuts related to the latest trends.” He elaborates: “The difference is in the cut, colour and style. In Europe, you see a lot of long hair these days that are usually carrying layered cuts with shorter lengths on the top to get a lot of sexy movement. In terms of styling, the hair is textured and wavy; even the slightest wave may look quite simple but unique at the same time.”
Apparently, that is not all he has in mind. “We see an international tendency of people towards wanting to have healthy, shiny hair and this is definitely what I would like to combine with the new haircuts. I will be talking about hair health as well; people love to style their hair using hair irons, curlers, etc, but it is not always good for the hair. I’ll be talking about the effects of these and how to use them properly.”
He speaks fondly about the World Champion title: “A nice competition based on creating a technically perfect look. To be able to do that, you need to train for two years with the same style on the same model. It is quite interesting to spend seven days a week with the same person, just training for the final day.” The proceedings happened in Las Vegas after which he proudly returned hands full.
‘In Europe, you see a lot of long hair these days that are usually carrying layered cuts with shorter lengths on the top to get a lot of sexy movement. In terms of styling, the hair is textured and wavy; even the slightest wave may look quite simple but unique at the same time,’ says Andy Uffels
‘Nice’ is how he likes to describe a number of things. Like the ‘Master of Craft’ title in New York was “a nice award” too because “you get it when you are nominated by your colleagues. It gets you respect from your industry.”
And what’s up with his company’s title ‘B’? “It is my own marketing character — like ‘be’ beautiful, ‘be’ sexy, ‘be’ individual.” Asked about his signature and he pauses, laughs, and then says, “Thinking out of the box; expanding borders; coming out with new ideas and pushing yourself to be able to renew somehow. At the same time, sometimes I go a bit crazy within my four walls; artistically, I mean. But I always make things approachable — wearable — for my clients.”
But he’s been working in the West most times. Will he be making exceptions with the dark-haired eastern clientele? “I always look at the individual personality, hair texture and style. Through questioning, I make up my mind about cut and length. The going trend isn’t always good for every person. I utilize the person’s individuality, face shape, etc.”
Uffels is also a consultant for the Oxford Hair Foundation. He describes his experience in a manner that is uncannily predictable by now: “Very nice; it is very interesting to witness dermatologists and doctors come together and share knowledge and ideas. I conduct seminars and talk to them so they can build their skills and expertise on my advice and deal better with their clients. It is a good initiative because they are able to deliver to their consumers better. About 70 per cent people in Europe suffer from scalp or hair problems so there is a huge amount of work to be done. Often, during my one-on-one talks with doctors, they ask me for specific examples of clients, and I give them references when explaining things.”
I kid him if the experience has turned him arrogant and he turns defensive: “I don’t think I’m more knowledgeable than they are at all. Our interaction is purely based on our experiences. Besides, they’re quite interested in the psychological processes involved while dealing with clients because communication is a difficult process.”
He will be here for only a couple of days before leaving. What next, then? “I’m going to go for a fashion shoot to London. In three weeks, I will be working on new shows coming up in Milan and Paris, and I will be working with great hairdressers like Orlando Pita, who is a great inspiration. I will be doing shows for Dior and Giordano with him. I shall also work with another stylist called Lois G. Mariano on a few shows.”
So is he planning to do something less fleeting here in the future? “I don’t have a lot of time, I’m afraid. I’m leaving on Sunday (today), so I hope to meet some more people, have a nice dinner. If and when I return, I would probably like to establish myself as a freelance hairstylist.” As for the long term, he doesn’t plan to go astray from his present line of work at all. “I definitely enjoy doing what I do now and I would like to build upon my experience.”
He is, no doubt, intense about his plans: “I would love to do shows in New York, but because of time, I haven’t been able to do that. Simultaneously, I would love to build the brand I’m presently working with, because I’ve been with the company for quite some time now. We share the same philosophies.”
And what might these be, one wonders? “Having healthy, beautiful hair; I love the look and feel of it,” he says.
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