‘Hair’s’ To Jawara
Celebrity hairstylist Jawara Wauchope is, in Hollywood parlance, “having a moment”. Interpret this to mean that he’s here, there and everywhere!
His Style Observer (SO) devotees are suitably chuffed.
The Brooklyn, NYC-born son of Sister Carol East from downtown Kingston and Dean Wauchope from Saint Mary, was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and sharpened his first set of HB pencils at Saint John the Baptist Prep School. He is still pinching himself after seeing his work on the November cover of American Vogue.
“It was an amazing experience for me because when I was living in Jamaica and saw images of Naomi Campbell. I dreamt about going into fashion… it has come full circle… me styling her for the cover of American Vogue is now one of my greatest accomplishments,” he says.
It’s no idle boast for Wauchope, who watched in fascination as a youngster when his mother and aunts would get dressed for stage shows and their concerts. “I always thought it was such an amazing thing to see these women putting themselves together,” he admits.
He not only soaked it all up but their confidence put him in good stead, we reckon, for the constant rejections he’d get as he tried to break into the competitive world of fashion. “I was constantly being rejected from different fashion outlets and often felt like throwing in the towel when I was working in New York City, trying my hardest to break into the fashion world,” he tells SO.
New York initially proved an exercise in futility. London was where it would happen. “I decided to move to London and it happened!” he added. He has not looked back.
As he takes us back to the day of the shoot he recalls the absolute joy. “Shooting with Naomi was amazing. First and foremost, I prepped loads and loads of extensions for her and she seemed to have loved them all… it was really, really an amazing experience. We spoke about Jamaican culture, Jamaican food and Jamaican music the whole time. I wouldn’t exchange that experience for the world.”
The shoot, he recalls, lasted about 16 hours and COVID-19 protocols were observed.
Always mindful of those he looked up to and those now looking up to him he has sound words of advice to share. Firstly, he’s not an overnight success! “I think consistency is key, as, too, persistency! You will get a lot of ‘nos’ and there’ll be adversity but you have to continue and you have to be persistent when you love something and you want to dream of being a part of something. It’s important for you to be consistent and never lose hope,” he says.
The credo ‘This too shall pass’ hark back to his childhood, a phrase he was taught as a child.
“This is a tough time for all of us, but I do believe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel if we continue,” he counsels.
It is indeed that light, that hope, that has kept many moving forward and Wauchope’s next big ‘hair’ moment is Beyoncé on the cover of British Vogue.
Cheers to many more!
