Cristiano basciu - a career as an artistic director

Cristiano Basciu, artistic director at the Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa talks about his inpirational career. What makes hairdressing a great career choice? Becoming a hairdresser is an incredible career choice. It’s not only creative but nowadays it allows for so many further opportunities; from traveling the globe, educating fellow hairdressers or even representing haircare and electrical brands. Don’t believe everything you read in the press – the career of the hairdresser has moved on leaps and bounds since the days of the blue rinse! How did you enter hairdressing and what was the attraction for you? I moved into hairdressing when I was in my mid-20’s. My family didn’t support my career choice, but I was fascinated with the industry. I found it so creative and inspiring. Any career that gives you the opportunity to make people look and feel beautiful would be a huge attraction for me. What were your first impressions of the industry and the possibilities open to you? My first impressions of the hairdressing industry were that it’s creative, inspiring and colourful. I’ve always followed a work hard philosophy, which created many opportunities for me from the very beginning. How did your career progress? I was lucky as I had many opportunities open to me from early on in my career. It enabled to me to meet other hairdressers who had similar creative minds. Over the years my hard work allowed me to work on catwalk shows, royal weddings and on magazine shoots. How did you start to work towards achieving your goals? Through focus and dedication. My pre-hairdressing days were spent as a ballet dancer, so I learnt about discipline and ambition from a young age. To be good at something you need to stay focused and not worry about other people. That generally leads to a few sleepless nights but in the end, you’ll reap the rewards. What advice would you offer someone looking to carve a long-term, exciting career in hairdressing? Be determined and learn as much as you can; whether it’s through a hairdresseing course, asking and studying your peers or by reading fashion magazines. You can never learn too much! What have been your career highlights to date? Working on the Royal Wedding was such an incredible moment for me. Other highlights include working on a Valentino show before his retirement, being part of the Danish and Spanish Royal Weddings and my work being featured in magazines such as Vogue and Hello.