When stylist, educator and salon owner Brig Van Osten arrived in Chicago for Bumble and bumble’s Voice and Vision networking event, she was instantly inspired as she checked into her room at the W Hotel downtown.
“I immediately knew I wanted to do an impromptu photoshoot in that room,” Van Osten says. “Photographer Joshua Flowers and his girlfriend Katie Butler were in town too. They quickly agreed that if we could get a model, we would collaborate and see what would come of it.”
Van Osten got the go-ahead from model Ellie to give her a total makeover, but knew the challenge would be pulling it off with the tools and products they had.
“I raced out to Sally Beauty and bought what I needed to cut her hair and make it a very bright blonde,” Van Osten says. “My color inspiration was a baby chick that featured a lot of tonal range in the different lighting that the hotel room offered.”
Van Osten doesn’t fancy herself a makeup artist — “but desperate times call for desperate measures,” and she jumped in to lend her skills.
With just five hours before Van Osten had to catch a plane, Butler quickly pulled wardrobe from Nordstrom Rack and H&M. “We didn’t have a plan — we hadn’t even met Ellie yet,” Van Osten says. “Once we did, we knew we had a unique moment to create off the cuff and make some beautiful pictures together.”
Cut, color, makeup: Brig Van Osten
Hair and fashion styling: Katie Butler
Photography: Joshua Flowers for joshxo.com
Products: Hairdressers Invisible Oil, Thickening Hairspray & Thickening Dryspun Finish, all Bumble and bumble.
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.