I got into hairdressing and moved from Dorset to London, where I got an apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon. This was around '83 or '84. I was working on South Molton Street, which was then the epicenter of all the shops. It was like a catwalk. So I did my apprenticeship there, but I wasn't successful.

I'm very lucky that I've worked mainly with two amazing photographers in David Sims and Steven Meisel.

All hair is away from the face - there's no emotion and all of the personality is taken away. I envisioned the way a 'virtual girl' is drawn in a cartoon. Then I added these different colored extensions - white, red and black, which adds to the synthetic feeling of the hair. I used colors which looked most dramatic against each of the models' real hair. The different colors give you that pop of fakeness so we're not talking about reality. Like a futuristic princess.

I must say, Gisele's [Bundhen] got some of the best hair I've ever touched.

To be a good hairdresser, you have to understand what the vision is of the designer or the photographer and then sort of add your thing.

I haven't got a good reputation with pain.

Suddenly it was cool to have your hair lank . . . It was a whole different way of looking at things, and it shook up the whole industry.