Leading British hair stylist
Angelo Seminara uses his skills to design hair pieces for exhibitions
Angelo Seminara is one of the world’s leading hair stylists. He’s created catwalk looks for leading fashion houses like Chanel, Hermès, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. But he also brings his own special brand of imagination and glamour to the attractions industry, making wigs for a variety of museum and exhibition projects.
Four-time winner of the BHA British Hairdresser of the Year Award, Seminara has worked with fashion curator Judith Clark since 2010 to create “hair installations” for exhibitions, including Chloé. Attitudes at the Palais de Tokyo, the Diana Vreeland retrospective at the Museo Fortuny in Venice and Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo, at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico. He’s also worked on permanent attractions, like the Simone Handbag Museum in Seoul, South Korea, and Louis Vuitton’s La Galerie in Asnières, France.
Most recently, Seminara worked with Clark on The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined. The exhibition examines questions of taste and vulgarity in fashion and culture. It ran at London’s Barbican from October 2016 to February 2017 and the Winterpalais in Vienna from March through June. It’s expected to travel to Belgium next.
“I work very closely with the curators,” Seminara tells Attractions Management. “They explain exactly what they want to achieve, then we have meetings to come up with ideas. I always try to add in something that’s new, cool and fresh.”
For The Vulgar, Seminara and his team of assistants made around 30 different wigs over a course of just a few weeks – and they’re not just made from hair.
“For each design, we created distinctive and individual looks; not necessarily created with hair only, but incorporating different materials too,” he says. “I work with an armoury of materials, including real and artificial hair, mouldable mesh, foam, fabrics, textiles – quite a mix of materials.”
“The process sees me designing all the looks in my private studio, working together with my assistants and the curator on a daily basis. It can be very frustrating sometimes, especially as we’re working on mannequins and things don’t always work the way you want. It means you have to keep trying and trying, persevere until you get the desired result.”
Seminara highlights the Frida Kahlo and Diana Vreeland shows as being some of the most challenging and creatively rewarding he has worked on. And it’s an aspect of his career that he values greatly, saying there’s always “something cooking on the back burner” – though he won’t reveal any more details.
With such stunning creations working so well to complement these exhibitions, does Seminara think museums could make more effort to use specially commissioned artisan skills like these?
“Creating bespoke pieces makes the exhibits look better,” he says. “They help make exhibitions more accurate, feel more authentic. They bring things alive for visitors and help them visualise the subject.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 3
Interview: Wolfgang Kiessling
We talked to Wolfgang Kiessling, who set
up a small parrot park on Tenerife in the
1970s. Today, Loro Parque and Siam Park
are some of Europe’s top attractions
Promotional feature: Sysco Productions
Sysco Productions is a world-class experience delivery
company, working for global clients in the museum and
heritage, exhibition, and sports and leisure industries
Leading British hair stylist
Angelo Seminara uses his skills to design hair pieces for exhibitions
Angelo Seminara is one of the world’s leading hair stylists. He’s created catwalk looks for leading fashion houses like Chanel, Hermès, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. But he also brings his own special brand of imagination and glamour to the attractions industry, making wigs for a variety of museum and exhibition projects.
Four-time winner of the BHA British Hairdresser of the Year Award, Seminara has worked with fashion curator Judith Clark since 2010 to create “hair installations” for exhibitions, including Chloé. Attitudes at the Palais de Tokyo, the Diana Vreeland retrospective at the Museo Fortuny in Venice and Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo, at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico. He’s also worked on permanent attractions, like the Simone Handbag Museum in Seoul, South Korea, and Louis Vuitton’s La Galerie in Asnières, France.
Most recently, Seminara worked with Clark on The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined. The exhibition examines questions of taste and vulgarity in fashion and culture. It ran at London’s Barbican from October 2016 to February 2017 and the Winterpalais in Vienna from March through June. It’s expected to travel to Belgium next.
“I work very closely with the curators,” Seminara tells Attractions Management. “They explain exactly what they want to achieve, then we have meetings to come up with ideas. I always try to add in something that’s new, cool and fresh.”
For The Vulgar, Seminara and his team of assistants made around 30 different wigs over a course of just a few weeks – and they’re not just made from hair.
“For each design, we created distinctive and individual looks; not necessarily created with hair only, but incorporating different materials too,” he says. “I work with an armoury of materials, including real and artificial hair, mouldable mesh, foam, fabrics, textiles – quite a mix of materials.”
“The process sees me designing all the looks in my private studio, working together with my assistants and the curator on a daily basis. It can be very frustrating sometimes, especially as we’re working on mannequins and things don’t always work the way you want. It means you have to keep trying and trying, persevere until you get the desired result.”
Seminara highlights the Frida Kahlo and Diana Vreeland shows as being some of the most challenging and creatively rewarding he has worked on. And it’s an aspect of his career that he values greatly, saying there’s always “something cooking on the back burner” – though he won’t reveal any more details.
With such stunning creations working so well to complement these exhibitions, does Seminara think museums could make more effort to use specially commissioned artisan skills like these?
“Creating bespoke pieces makes the exhibits look better,” he says. “They help make exhibitions more accurate, feel more authentic. They bring things alive for visitors and help them visualise the subject.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 3
Interview: Wolfgang Kiessling
We talked to Wolfgang Kiessling, who set
up a small parrot park on Tenerife in the
1970s. Today, Loro Parque and Siam Park
are some of Europe’s top attractions
Promotional feature: Sysco Productions
Sysco Productions is a world-class experience delivery
company, working for global clients in the museum and
heritage, exhibition, and sports and leisure industries
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
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