BEHIND THE LENS

Jake Unger shares the story behind his award-winning 2024 collection, Rouge

What do you love about this collection?

One of the main things I love about this collection is the mix of looks. From salon friendly finishes to Avant Garde precision cutting. This shoot was inspired by some of my favourite designers’ imagery: YSL and Tom Ford. The colour tones and the idea of two different backgrounds was a huge risk, but one I think really paid off.

What was the inspiration for the hair?

Something timeless, whilst still being relevant and progressive. My style of hairdressing represents this, a nod towards vintage and classic hairdressing techniques with tweaks to give it a modern edge. It was important for me to create some soft and sexy looks that were chic with a contrast of stronger precision styles that excited the judges.

How did you go about setting up the shoot?

This collection was shot in London, whilst working for HOB Academy and I appreciate their investment and support. I worked with a huge team to get the best looks on the day including Richard Miles who brings a lot of experience shooting hairdressing collections. We shot around 25 looks over four days. This amount of models and looks takes time to research ideas. Rather than researching from scratch I’m constantly screen shotting anything I like on my phone, such as different designer campaigns, hair, make-up, clothing - anything you like, screen shot and save for later.

Did anything go wrong or surprise you on the day?

Hair is hair so there is always something that causes a challenge. This year we shot in the summer on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year -without aircon! This was a huge challenge to stop the curls from sweating and spoiling some of the hair. There were points when I was dressing hair and it was almost dropping out as I was styling it. It was a difficult day but a great one in the end and we managed to get all the looks.

Do you have a significant memory from the day?

It was as eventful as any other awards shoot. Always stressful at times, but always fun and very rewarding. Shooting big campaigns and collections for me is always a pleasure and a learning experience. I love being on set and capturing moments. I also find it rewarding working on these shoots as we have a responsibility over each part, from make-up, and clothing to the overall mood.