Russian Session Stylist Alexey Osipchuk On Londa Professional, The Hair industry and Being Inspired

Alexey Osipchuk’s passion for hair started when he was 18 years old when in a small city called Kaliningrad. “One day, while I was reading a magazine, I saw an article where a hairdresser worked on a hairstyle”, he reveals “At that moment, I realized that it’s an interesting profession and I had to try it out.”

The Russian native started studying in a hairstylist school and took his studies in various academies, including Vidal Sassoon Academy (London) and the VLAD Institute of Hairdressing (St. Petersburg). “All these made me totally fall in love with this profession.”

From winning Russian hairdressing awards to leading master classes and seminars, he is now considered a top session stylist, and a founder of Salon Park by Osipchuk in St. Petersburg.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Has anyone inspired you to move on your career or was it what you wanted to do?

For me, it’s a very difficult question and when I’m asked about inspiration, I always say that it’s always gotten by those who desire to be inspired by someone or something. The magical thing about it is that you never know where or when you can find inspiration. Long story short, I’m inspired by everything more especially by music, history of fashion, art and people.

Your work is undeniably inspiring. Hailing from Russia, how do you add your culture and roots to your creativity and interpret it in your work?

I think a successful stylist is a person with the ability to merge different cultures, know different styles and also be aware of everything happening in the fashion world. My job is to find things that inspire me or are interesting to me to make something unique out of them.  

How would you describe your role as a Global Director, and what have been your responsibilities as a brand ambassador for Londa Professional?​

It’s really a great pleasure to be in partnership with a big company like Londa Professional and it’s a wonderful opportunity to create something for a big brand, to communicate with different people from different countries and of different cultures. When we work on collections, we consider every region, country, hairdresser and our goal is to create very amazing, commercial images and also to create something that can inspire other hairdressers. For me, the most important part of the work is to be in touch with Londa Professional and obviously to be in this team.

Aside from being a salon owner, trainer and taken on various roles as well as won several awards. Tell me how you worked through it all and your inspiration behind it?

From the onset, my concern was always to be a professional stylist. And in my opinion, in order to have a really good and amazing carrier you have to think from different points of your carrier such as education, which I think is the most important part of my work. I really want to create a different type of education that will be new, of a great importance and interesting. Another thing is the competitiveness in the outside world, which made me start taking part in competitions. This was very important to me. For example, now my team and I take part in competitions and another point is to share my knowledge with other hairdressers. You have to think about different points of your carrier and different points of your job, mix your point with that of others in order to get better in your daily activities and be a really professional stylist and not just taking part in competitions and educating others.

Where do you feel most creatively inspired; in-salon, on set or in an educational setting?

This is a good question because it’s very important to prioritize every point of our job. Sometimes I miss my salons, work, clients but after 1 or 2 weeks of working in my salons, I miss educating people, and because of this I have to start educational courses so as to share my knowledge. It’s really nice to be on set also. In summary of it all, I think it’s good to mix every part of your job because they all have their roles to play in your creativity and experience.

It’s clear that hair and fashion styling is your true calling. What is it that you love about this creativity and how does it drive your work?

Every stylist has to find his language because it’s important to discover your calling or chose your category and also strengthen that part which is more comfortable for you. As a result of this, I started 18 years ago to be educated in haircuts and stylings. The competition I took part in was in this nomination. After all these, it became a bit easier and more comfortable for me to speak with other stylists through haircuts and stylings. I think the most important thing is how to give your clients, models, etc. the best hairstyles, show some images and also find new things in trends, haircuts, colorings and stylings.

How can stylists ensure they maintain their levels of creativity, wherever they are and whoever their clients?

I think at first, you need to think about what you prefer doing. This is a very important thing to ask yourself, because you have to think about yourself first in this case. If you don’t do this or if you don’t find yourself, what you’re comfortable with, what your passion or style is and what you prefer, you won’t be able to express yourself well in this field. In addition to that, you always have to be aware of the new things in your job, styles or the fashion world and get inspiration from them as well. If you have your own amazing style, passion and creativity, you might get new clients or people who appreciate what they see and really want to be part, take part in or try what they see in you. I have realized it’s not only about haircuts, but philosophy, fashion, history of fashion, style, trends, etc. As a result of this, you are not just like a hairdresser who can do all hairstyles, but like a big company, ambassador or philosopher. Outside this, I always advice everyone to be himself.

What do you see as some of the main differences between the work of European stylists and those of your country? 

I think it’s very important to consider two things: Techniques and design. Sometimes I think more like European stylists, by thinking about design and not techniques. On the other hand, Russian stylists are much better at techniques. It’s nice to see how stylists from Europe and Russia develop in these aspects. The European stylists most times have more opportunities to work on design, while the Russian stylists prefer working on techniques.

How do you go about creating your signature collections? Is it difficult to think up new ideas each year?

I usually present 2 big collections a year, which results to coming up with different ideas, styles, hairstyles, moods, etc. I won’t say it’s difficult, because it’s my field, but you have to be on the same page with the fashion world. Having inspiration, new ideas, colors, techniques, styles, decisions and when all these are at your fingertips, it won’t be difficult to express yourself and explain your collections to other people. Another thing is that to think up new ideas each year requires hard work and dedication, nevertheless if you want to be on the top, you must be on the same page with others or sometimes ahead of them.

Your position entails commitments and responsibilities within the brand. Can you share on what you educate and coach hair stylists?

Well, in my school we educate other hairdressers on our absolutely unique haircuts, by using straight haircuts without hair thinning. It’s a big philosophy and a big innovative system and also like the heart of our company. Our main priority while educating others is our haircut techniques, other than that we educate hair stylists on how to communicate with their clients, learn more about fashionable collections, different shootings, how to merge different aspects in the fashion world. We try to also educate our students on how to be big professional stylists, by showing them the importance of hairstyles, lifestyle, shootings, editorials, fashion, trends, etc.

The hardest part of any technique is to interpret what it is you are trying to achieve. Did you face that? What’s the biggest mistake people make when creating new collections?

While working on new collections, you need to consider two main things. Firstly, what kind of hairstyles inspire other hairdressers and secondly, what type of hairstyle do other people need. When all these are taken into consideration, I think it’s the main thing needed to be done in order to start this type of project. At first, it can be inspiring to other hairdressers and well as your school, students, reputation, and maybe clients. Another point is that you have to think if it’s really needed or not.

What advice can you give to hairdressers that want to follow in your footsteps?

I might not be in the right position to give advice, but the only thing I can say to upcoming hairstylists is to love what they do. It’s also very important to think about your responsibilities, because your responsibilities help you to recognize that you work with people and also the decisions we make, the type of hairstyles we do and so on.

If you were to create one thing in the hairdressing industry, what would it be?

That thing I would create would be an opportunity to work in this industry, because after I started 18 years ago, there was never a moment when I thought I made the wrong decision. It’s really awesome to work in a hair industry.

Who would be your ideal person to style, color or give a complete change, who would it be and why?

In my opinion, the ideal person would be everyone I come across with. I’m proud to work with a lot of clients, absolutely different types of men and women. Also, it’s a great pleasure to meet different people, from different countries and cultures, with different styles and to find something nice and beautiful for each person.

         
“Do what you love and love what you do”- Alexey Osipchuk

What do you do in your spare time?

I don’t really have a lot of spare time, but when I do, I use it to find new things, inspiration and important things for me. I’m proud that my job is really diversified, as a result of this I always spend my time on books related to the history of fashion or maybe watch interesting movies that could enhance my knowledge at work. It’s good to do things in connection to your job, not because of your really crazy about your job, but because you gain joy from doing job-related things.