Does working runway backstage or on set for labels like Off-White and Saint Laurent sound like a dream come true? How about styling the gorgeous Gigi Hadid’s hair? If yes, you’ll want to know all about Fashion Hairstylist Dylan Walker.
While he’s a fixture of fashion weeks in Paris, Milan and worldwide now, this isn’t always what Dylan’s day-to-day looked like. When we last caught up with him, a freshly graduated Dylan was learning the ropes at a local barbershop. A solid start for any fledging stylist, Dylan loved the creativity of it. “I just like it [as] an art form. There’s so much that you can do. There’s infinite inspiration out there too.”
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Left: Gigi Hadid for Vogue World – Celebrating 130 years of Vogue Magazine. Dylan Walker assisted lead hairstylist Lucas Wilson.
Right: Dylan assisted lead hairstylist Guido Palau for Alexander Mcqueen, Paris Fashion Week 2023
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A job fell through and I was a little upset, but minutes later an email came through for a Saint Laurent campaign.
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A graduate of Blanche Macdonald’s Hair Program, Dylan has always lived and breathed fashion; “I loved watching America’s Next Top Model” he laughs. “Rewatching now, it’s such a problematic show, but fashion just seemed like a really interesting industry in general. It had this allure that almost hypnotizes you.”
However, he didn’t always have his sights set on becoming a fashion hairstylist. Telling me about a high school career planning class he shares, “I had a high school teacher ask me ‘Do you want to be a hairstylist?’ – I was always doing my friends’ hair at school but I told her ‘No, that’s a loser job’ I was just being a little shit.”
Changing his perspective on the trade since Dylan decided to pursue hairstyling not long after his high school graduation. “I wanted to work in fashion more than hair when I was younger. But then I looked into the trades in fashion and I always really liked doing my own hair and all of my friends’ hair so I was like “Oh, I can do that!”
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“I knew that university wasn’t for me, I didn’t like school in general – like the traditional classroom type setting,” he explains. “I knew that I wanted to do something creative.” So now that he had decided on hairstyling, it didn’t take him long to enrol. “I found Blanche Macdonald as Canada’s Top Hairstyling school and I didn’t actually look at any other school. It all just kind of fell into place.”
Montreal-born and Surrey-raised, Dylan says, “I hadn’t even really been in the city very much, it was kind of just a big step to commute to school every day.” But the program was well worth the unfamiliar journey. Dylan loved his time in the hair program. “We started doing hair shockingly fast, but it was good! The instructors were all really great and knowledgeable”. There were a few particularly helpful instructors. “Marcy Hodel and Jeff Ranger were awesome. I liked that we had different instructors for different modules. Now with years of experience, I see that that makes a lot of sense because if you’re just learning off of one person, you’re only learning one way to do things.”
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Hair school like Blanche Macdonald, is the beginning, you need a good foundation to set you up.
After time spent in barbershops and salons, Dylan decided he wanted to refocus his attention on this first love: fashion. Armed with the skills he acquired through the hair program, Blanche Macdonald styling shoots and fashion shows, and out working in the industry, Dylan called on hair and fashion industry contacts to help get his foot back in the door. Dylan explains “On a whim, I was like “I’m going to go to Europe and hope I get some Jobs.” I reached out to a lot of contacts, just through networking over the years and previous Fashion Week experiences. I grew up in MySpace times – just internet stalking – so I figured out a) who’s doing the jobs I want and b) how I can contact them.”
This tactic paid off. With travel still somewhat difficult mid-pandemic, Dylan shares, “A lot of fashion hairstylists didn’t have the teams they were normally working with. So surprisingly, everybody I reached out to got back to me and jobs just started coming in.”
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I found Blanche Macdonald as Canada's Top Hairstyling school and I didn’t actually look at any other school. It all just kind of fell into place.
Since cutting his teeth in the fashion industry, he’s been invited to work at major fashion events and runways. One of the most notable? The Autumn/Winter Off-White Show. “It was shortly after Virgil Abloh, the Creative Director, passed away, so it was a tribute show to him. But I had no idea what I was walking into. Then I see the board of the models who are walking in the show and it’s like everyone.”
And he means everyone. Supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Adut Akech, Cindy Crawford and daughter Kaia Gerber, Helena Christensen, and even tennis professional Serena Williams took to the runway. “I really like Bella Hadid and she was in that show!” Dylan tells me “I did not do her hair but she talked to me,” Dylan gushes.
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Left: White: Quinn Elin Mora for Victoria Beckham AW23, Paris Fashion Week 2023. Dylan assisted lead hairstylist Anthony Turner for both looks.
Print: Blumarine, Paris Fashion Week, 2023.
Right: Dylan assisted lead hairstylist Guido Palau for Khaite FW23, New York Fashion Week 2023.
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I liked that we had different instructors for different modules. Now with years of experience, I see that that makes a lot of sense because if you’re just learning off of one person, you’re only learning one way to do things.
The day after the Off-White show and his pinch-me moment with Bella, another well-deserved opportunity came Dylan’s way. “A job fell through and I was a little upset, but minutes later an email came through for a Saint Laurent campaign. So one minute you’re almost about to cry and the next you’re working for Saint Laurent.”
Another serendipitous moment for Dylan? Vogue World. “A shoot fell through but I thought ‘might as well work on something.”Taking on a mystery gig, Dylan explains “I didn’t know what it was. Then I found out it was the 130th anniversary of Vogue magazine. It was absolutely massive. It had every supermodel possible in the show.”
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Zoë Kravitz and Dominic Fike for Saint Laurent FW22 Campaign. Dylan assisted lead hairstylist Akki Shirakawa.
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Take risks. You’re always going to be learning, I’ve been doing hair for 14 years now and I’m still always learning. You should also be working to be better.
With so many supermodel run-ins you may be wondering if Dylan has worked with them directly. Short answer? Yes. “I got to work on Gigi Hadid’s hair twice!” he beams. “Not Bella, but she always talks to me so I feel like it’s coming. And Gigi remembered me the second time!”
Living a life that sounds like a dream for any would-be hairstylist, Dylan has advice for anyone looking to follow in his shoes. “Take risks. You’re always going to be learning, I’ve been doing hair for 14 years now and I’m still always learning. You should also be working to be better. Hair school like Blanche Macdonald, is the beginning, you need a good foundation to set you up.”
