It wouldn't be too bold to say that there's one man who's arguably defined an entire generation of celebrity hair. From J-Lo's trio of wedding updos, to Kim Kardashian's bleached Marilyn Monroe Met Gala bun, to Ariana Grande's signature psychedelic lavender ponytail, the list of Chris Appleton's notable A-list hair looks is longer than his 70-inch hair extensions. Simply scroll through Instagram and you'll see the British hairstylist and Color Wow Global Creative Director's Hollywood-worthy creations appearing on the likes of Dua Lipa, Kylie Jenner and Drew Barrymore, to name just a few.
Practically the only man that Kim and J-Lo trust with their endless hair transformations, Appleton perfectly merges trend-setting creativity, frustratingly simple hair hacks that instantly elevate the most simple of styles (we're still not over his inverted ponytail flip), and styling techniques you've never even heard of.
He even manages to make mistakes look epic. 'We did a version of the Superbowl where JLo's hair actually went quite wrong,' Appleton tells ELLE UK while shooting an episode of 'It's Iconic...' on a short trip to the UK. 'I curled her hair on a much smaller curling iron, pinned it, which I never normally do and then I went to brush it out before we went out on the field and it was just so curly. The curls wouldn't drop. She did the performance and I remember looking at the screen and thinking, I'm done. Biggest moment of my career and I'll probably never work again. I gave her ringlets. But, it meant that I developed this technique called the "double curl". It's interesting how something that kind of went wrong became one of my most successful hair looks of all time.'
Styling Kim Kardashian's hair while she's asleep, causing bubblegum pink hair dye to sell out, and reinventing the moment that inspired the creation of Google Images (that JLo Versace look), are all in a day's work for Appleton. 'It was interesting to recreate such an iconic moment. Being part of something so many years later is equally as exciting as it is terrifying. Just before she went out on the runway, her hair was a lot longer and Donatella said she wanted to cut it so what people don't know is that we were frantically cutting her hair as she walked out onto the stage,' he added.
Watch Chris Appleton's full 'It's Iconic' in the video at the top of this article.
