Session Hairstylists Tasked with Deconstructing Looks Throughout the Thriller's Timeline
It's a scene literally set in Hollywood: eight young women find themselves trapped together in a house in the hills after an earthquake leaves the structure nearly underground. As days pass in confinement, darker impulses start to divide the group. Leaders emerge, personalities amplify, and those left in the middle (Maya Hawke - Stranger Things) are left to question their strategic alliances. Ladyworld, the movie, features appearances by Annelise Basso (Captain Fantastic), Ariela Barer (Runaways) and Odessa Arlon (Fam).
Amanda Kramer, the director behind Ladyworld, approached hairstylist Tania Becker in late 2017 driven to assemble a beauty team with a background in fashion. She explained the young women would be starting with their hairstyles reflective of current fashionable teens attending a birthday party. Over the days of confinement, their hair would slowly deconstruct.
"Amanda wanted me to design looks to reflect the horror and tension of the time passing: sleeping on their party hair and evolving it over the days. However, we spoke about having the looks not necessarily being a literal deconstruction, but rather taking certain artist liberties with designing avant-garde runway deconstruction and decay," said Becker.
Amongst the chaos of the phycological process for the female characters, the "good" tribe paints their faces and chants. They separate from the group both visually and demonstratively. The hair also grows larger than life. The result was a series of looks designed for the women, in groupings of where they were in their process. Becker's biggest challenge was having a solid system of continuity over the three-week shoot. Was she successful? Go and see for yourself - Ladyworld released in June 2019.
Credits
Director - Amanda Kramer
Cinematographer - Patrick Meade Jones
Ariela Barer @arielabarer
Annelise Basso @annelisebasso
Maya Hawke @maya-hawke
Odessa Adlon @odessaadlon
Ryan Simpkins @ryan_the_ryan
Tatsumi Romano @tatsumiromano
Zora Casebere @zorasc
Atheena Frizzell @atheenafrizzell
Lead Hair - Tania Becker @taniabecker
Hair Assistant - Chad Taylor @moodshairsalon
Hair Assistant - Johanna Libbey @moodshairsalon
Lead Wardrobe - Jillian Cainghug @jcainghug
Lead Makeup - Carson Stern @commedecarson
Makeup Assistant - Faith Grady @faitthelizabeth
Curious what the critics thought?
"Ladyworld closely examines both the meaningful and challenging parts of femininity, and the female protagonists explore the alternative possibilities of what a lady could be, all while firmly rejecting what a lady "should" be. Slick editorial-esque visuals, a ghostly acapella score, and avant-garde, street-styled costumes help build a world that will pull you in, chew you up, and spit you out. As amusing as it is excruciating, Ladyworld holds nothing back, just like its characters. You won't be able to look away, as much as you may want to." - The TIFF
