Two Larkhall hairdressers will be demonstrating that their skills are a cut above as they travel to style top models on the international stage.
L Perfection salon owner Lisa Rodger and senior stylist Eilidh Mawer are joining the elite team of hairdressers who will be converging on the French capital for this year’s prestigious Paris Fashion Week, where they will create chic styles for the models taking to the catwalk.
They describe the opportunity as “a dream” and are now getting set for their international adventure in March by practising the looks required for the runway – cheered on by their delighted customers and colleagues at the Union Street salon.
Lisa and Eilidh were able to get involved in the international team after making online connections when photographs showcasing their work on the salon’s social media channels drew likes and praise online from influential hairdressers involved in putting the Paris teams together.
They will be preparing for Paris by studying training videos and perfecting a range of styles provided by fashion week organisers, before spending a week in Paris where they will complete in-person training – before taking on the main challenge of styling picture-perfect models for up to five shows per day with the eyes of the fashion world upon them.
Salon creative director Lisa told Lanarkshire Live: “Going to Paris Fashion Week to work on the catwalk shows is one of my dreams – we can’t wait and we’re both absolutely buzzing to go behind the scenes, see all the excitement and see how it all works.
“We’d noticed that our pictures of hair-up styles on Instagram had been liked by the people who run the hairdressing squad for Paris Fashion Week and my sister, who’s my partner in the business and my biggest supporter, encouraged me to go for it.
“At the moment they’re coming up with the hairstyles to go with the clothes and next month we’ll be sent videos to practice, then we’ll go over and stay with other hairdressers who are taking part, meet the team and get to know each other, and have a few days of styling and social media training before the fashion week shows get started.”
She added: “There will be up to five shows per day and we’re really looking forward to it, especially working fast and under pressure and taking part in this amazing experience.
“I’ve been a hairdresser for 20 years and this has always been a dream. Eilidh is our senior stylist and is just amazing. She started out as a junior with us six years ago and just oozed talent so I knew straight away we just had to get her into the salon team.”
Lisa, who has been a hairdresser for two decades, started her own business nearly 12 years ago and has been based for the past six years at the current salon in Larkhall, which has 11 members of staff.
The award-winning business is now a real family affair as she works there alongside her three sisters – manager Nicola McCallum, receptionist Kerry Smith and social media content creator Dionne Brown.
L Perfection colleagues shared the Paris Fashion Week news on social media, congratulating Lisa and Eilidh on achieving the “first goal of 2025” and saying: “Our design duo will be fulfilling one of their career highlights, working alongside some of the best stylists in the business from around the world – we can’t wait to showcase the work they create and we will be bringing you all along in their journey.”
They received hundreds of responses congratulating the pair on the “dream” and “once in a lifetime achievement”, and Lisa added: “All of our customers are absolutely buzzing – they’re so excited for us and have said so many nice things about how we’re going to smash it.
“We have the best clients in the world and such good laughs and vibes in the salon.”
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