Since the 1990s Toni&Guy international artistic director and head of education, Cos Sakkas, has been creating award-winning images. From his Newcomer of the Year collection in 1999 to his British Hairdresser of the Year nominee collection in 2020, Sakkas knows a thing or two about what going into a beautiful, creative and commercial collection.

“Working on photo shoot is one of the favorite things to do – it gives you an opportunity to be creative, work with some incredible people and push yourself out of your comfort zone,” Sakkas states.

So what has he learnt over the past 20 years? Here’s his tips for creating headline-grabbing images.

1. Make sure your models are individual and beautiful in their own rights. Don’t be a follower of fashion, but work with their own personal beauty.

2. Make a physical mood board rather than collecting images on your phone. It will help with your creativity and be a reference point for everyone on the day.

3. Make sure hair, make-up and clothes all work together. Remember it is a hair shoot and you don’t want to detract from the hairstyle you have created, so keep everything else simple and understated.

4. Work with a team who have the same vision as you, but will push you to try new things.

5. Shoot for you and no one else – don’t shoot for the Awards, shoot for yourself. You want a collection that is true to you and shows your skills, passion and vision. If you put pressure on your shoulders to create a winning collection, you will lose your focus.

6. Shoot in colour and black and white – both will be beautiful but give a different dimension to your finished look.

7. Stay focused – don’t be distracted by whacky ideas. Find your niche and stick to what you’re good at and produce images that are beautiful and trend led.

8. Take your time when cropping your images – full length has a totally different feeling to close up, so choose wisely and don’t rush this process.