About Pete:
Pete grew up in Scotland. At fifteen he migrated with his family to Sydney, Australia. Moving to Australia as a teenager was a complete culture shock which resulted in Pete getting into a lot of trouble. So much so that he wanted to leave school. Speaking with his parents they agreed to allow Pete to leave school provided he had a job.
Having a love for fashion and a friend working in the hair industry, Pete caught the train from the Central Coast down into the heart of Sydney and went on the search for a job in a hair salon. Pete managed to land himself a job at one of the best salons in Sydney’s Double Bay, Lloyd Lomas. Starting in a great salon and having really good mentors, confirmed his passion and enjoyment for the craft and Pete started to move around different salons throughout his apprenticeship to absorb and learn as much as he could. He worked in salons such as Valonz with Renya Xydis to Val Garland to Anthony Whitaker.
After 10 years of hairdressing Pete saved up some money and decided to head to New York City, with no particular plan in place. Pete says, “I just wanted to travel.” He took a year off hair and worked in nightclubs and other similar places to make some money to live and stay in NYC. Pete then received a phone call from a good industry friend saying that she wanted to introduce him to Max Pinnell. They got on really well and Max said that if he needed another assistant at some stage he would reach out.
To Pete’s surprise a few days later at 5.00am he got a call from Max asking if he could go and assist him as his assistant had slept in and wouldn’t be making it. Pete headed down to the studio with his Maison Pearson brush where he then got to blow dry Stephanie Seymour’s hair. From that day he became Max’s new assistant.
That was the beginning of Pete’s freelancing career working with Max for around three years, meeting incredible people in the industry and being taken on by Max’s agency he began to work on shoots and jobs independently. After a while, Pete felt it was time for a lifestyle change and a need for space. This caused Pete to move back home to Sydney Australia.
Pete is now happily working in Sydney with a great group of people in session work and working in Blaec salon.
How many years have you been working in session and do you still work in a salon?
I’ve been working doing session styling for 17 years and I’m still working in a salon two days a week. I’ve always liked working in a salon as well even when I was in New York. I specialise in cutting, I’ve coloured hair before, however, I feel like just cutting I can manage my time better and I have great industry friends around the city who are great colourists who I can recommend to do a much better job.
What advice do you have for stylists who want to enter the session world?
I think it’s important to be open to opportunities and not be stuck on any one plan to achieve your goals of getting into the industry. Be authentic, be yourself. If you do that people will like you and want to work with you because you’re yourself. It’s all about teams and working together you’re working with the make up artists, stylists and photographers the same as in the salon, you get booked on your merit and people who like to work with you. Understanding on-set etiquette, having a general knowledge of fashion. It’s important to know who the designers are who the models are what the current trends are.
It’s easy today with the internet you can go onto vogue.com and within an hour of the shows you can see what went down the runway.
Where were you based in New York?
Living in New York for 16 years I lived in pretty much every area. I lived in the West Village, Soho, Chelsea, my last apartment which was my favourite was in Harlem. I had space and it was close to central park and it had a great community feel up there. I used to walk passed the salons in Harlem in awe of the work that they were doing, I loved watching them work. I worked in a salon in Soho in the Soho Grand called Privè.
What are you tips for creating a great starter session kit?
I don’t think you need to have the most amazing kit to start. For me it’s about having pride in your kit and making sure it’s clean when you show up to jobs. It’s not all about having the best brands, it’s about having tools that you can work with and create the looks.
Things that I have to have in my kit and can not live without on set are a hair dryer and a wide tooth comb. Obviously trends change but at the moment these are the two things that I’m always working with.
Some tool kit suggestions:
- A Hair dryer
- Different sizes of straightening and curling irons;
- A good dressing out brush like a Maison Pearson (but it doesn’t have to be this brand);
- A variety of combs especially a wide tooth comb;
- A variety of brushes that you can work with to create the looks;
- A towel;
- A cape; and
- A water spray.
What brands you have had the chance to work with?
- Victoria Secret
- Calvin Klein
- Ralph Lauren
These were mainly in New York, however, working in Australia I have also had the opportunity to work with.
- Vogue
- Romance Was Born
- David Jones
Recently I had the honour to work with British Vogue editor Edward Enninful in Australia.
What would you say are you career highlight so far?
I got to shoot with Karl Largerfeld! When I got booked for the job I kind of joked with my agent that everyone else in the city must have been busy. He was shooting the pictures as the photographer on the shoot for Harper’s Bazzar that was a pretty epic career highlight.
That was in New York at Pier 59 studios it was over two days. He flew in from Paris the call time was three in the afternoon. He was very friendly he came in and shook everyone’s hands with his glove on and then he kept his glasses on and took the pictures. There was a team of about six digital operators buzzing around the screen on set. There was a lot of protocol no one was allowed to approach him directly it all had to go through the stylist who then went on to have a fashion label and she was Mike Jagger’s wife? so that was pretty amazing.
Another was when I was assisting this guy who had a Victoria’s Secret contract. We flew in a pink aeroplane with all the Victoria’s Secret girls from New York to Los Angeles for a show. There’s been many you know working with Max Pinnell as well has been a highlight of my career.
If you could cut or style anyone’s hair dead or alive who would it be?
Tilda Swinton the actress she’s the coolest women on the planet. 100% style her hair, cut her hair that’s who I would want to look after.
For assistants who might like to reach out for the chance to work with you, what is the best 
way for them to contact you?
People can direct message me on Instagram @petelennon. I like to meet my assistants before I work with them. I want to make sure that we are going to get along and can work well together.
There seems to be a debate in the industry as to whether to have an agent or self represent. What are your thoughts on this?
For me having an agent means I can completely focus on the creative side. I don’t have to negotiate rates, they manage my calendar and all my paperwork is taken care of. I know that I wouldn’t be successful without my agent and also my book keeper. It also allows me to have a completely creative relationship with my clients.
When iI’m on set I like to be 100% focused so I can’t be checking my phone all the time and answering emails for future jobs, having an agent allows me to be booked and they know my calendar and can also organise any assistants I may need.
Do you get to travel as a session stylist?
This January I travelled for most of the month around Australia, to all the major cities and also to New Zealand. When I was living abroad I travelled internationally for jobs a lot. I have seen some incredible parts of the world working in session and stayed in some amazing hotels.
However, location is not a vacation you’re there to work. You’re normally up at 4.00am to get to the location on time. When you’re on location you’re dealing with the elements and there are a lot of people working to achieve the common goal but the pressure is on to deliver.
X Alisha