During a recent trip to Wilmington, North Carolina, I had the opportunity to work with celebrity hairstylist Steven Wayne Ward on a hair and fashion shoot with some male models.
Before he became the man creating red carpet-ready looks for top celebrities, Steven Ward started out as southern boy who grew up on a tobacco farm in Brunswick County in eastern North Carolina. After graduating from Appalachian State University with a double major in marketing and management and a minor in English in 1983, Ward moved to Charlotte where he accidentally stumbled upon the art of hairdressing. After admiring the hairstyle of a friend, he sought out her stylist to help him create his own style. It was through this experience that Ward discovered himself; he says that the new look helped shed away his shyness and unlock his personality. He refers to that new hairstyle as the gift that changed his life.
Ward returned home to the eastern coast to enroll in classes at Brunswick Tech. In 1984, he spent his holiday break in London, polishing his skills at Toni & Guy and the legendary Vidal Sassoon School of Hairdressing. After graduation in 1985, he spent the next 10 years of his life in local salons before moving to New York. During those years, being in the business, Ward developed a love for fashion magazines, searching out the most powerful shots that were sexy and elegant with an edge. Little did he know that he would one day be styling looks for those same magazines.
In New York City, Ward landed a job as the assistant to Garren, a celebrated stylist whose work had appeared in top fashion magazines, like a W magazine cover featuring Meryl Streep and Lindsay Lohan. Some of his first assignments involved helping Garren with a Linda Evangelista shoot, a CK One commercial and a runway show for Marc Jacobs, which led to Ward's first solo cover shoot for Town & Country with Blaine Trump and a memorable Rolling Stone cover with Sandra Bullock.
In 1997, Vogue referred to Steven Ward as Garren's latest protege, stating, "Even though he wears head-to-toe designer gear and coifs stars like Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd, he's retained both his sweet nature and his Southern twang." Over time, Ward's portfolio grew to include magazine covers and editorial-styled shots of celebrities like Charlize Theron, Meryl Streep, Gywneth Paltrow, Jessica Simpson, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie. He was traveling the world for movie premieres, the Oscars and press appearances for Julianne Moore, Dido and Sandra Bullock.
After 11 years of working with celebrities and styling covers and editorial spreads for Rolling Stone, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour and In Style, Ward decided to return home to where he could make time for a social life and reconnect with dearly missed family and friends. In 2006, he opened his own salon, Steven Ward Hair in the quiet coastal town of Wilmington.
Nearly 8 years after opening the salon, Ward continues to use his magic scissors to give the gift of a unique hairstyle to his clients, changing lives and unleashing personalities just like someone did for him all those years ago.
It was a true honor to have Steven Ward take time out of his busy schedule to provide hairstyling for one of my shoots. It's true what they say, he provides something magical when it comes to hairstyling. As we discussed each outfit, Ward had a brilliant interpretation for the hair that would compliment and complete each look.
Here's a few of the incredible hairstyle looks that Steven Ward created for the shoot....
Stay tuned for more photos of Steven Wayne Ward's hairstyling for the models from our shoot, Jared T., Remington P., and Clark M.
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Interested in booking a photo session with 6:12 Photography? Contact Eric McKinney at emckinney612@gmail.com to schedule a shoot.
To find out more about Steven Wayne Ward and his career as a celebrity hairstylist, visit www.stevenwardhair.com.
