COTR student studies with celebrity stylist

~College of the Rockies' Wild About Hair student, Paige Wilkins, recently completed a practicum with NYC stylist, Nick Arrojo of "What Not to Wear" fame.~

By BONNIE BRYAN
Cranbrook Daily Townsman Staff

Reprinted with Permission

Some students taking the Wild About Hair program in Cranbrook are becoming well travelled through the program. In March three students did a practicum in London, England and in June Paige Wilkins from Kimberley did a practicum in New York City with famous hairstylist Nick Arrojo.

Arrojo is famous partly for a seven-year stint on the TLC show What Not To Wear. The show's hosts, Stacy and Clinton, go through a nominated person's wardrobe, throw most of it away, and take them on a shopping spree worth $5,000. As part of the show Arrojo provided the candidate with a new, improved hairdo.

It was from What Not To Wear Wilkins knew of Arrojo and decided she wanted to do a practicum at his Arrojo Studio in New York City.

"I have family in New Jersey and I just talked to Gwen (Wild About Hair instructor) about it. I liked Nick's work that he's done on the show," she said. "Gwen was a huge help and pretty much set it up through her networking. I don't think it would have happened if it wasn't for Gwen."

Wilkins said what struck her most about Arrojo is how friendly and warm he was.

"He's a very nice guy, very welcoming. The whole salon was very welcoming. All the stylists there were very helpful and friendly. He was really helpful, he talked me through techniques he was doing and asked me questions," she said. "It was just really cool to see such a big name in such a big salon where everyone is really welcoming and really nice."

She started her day at Arrojo Studio by observing a cutting class for all the assistants to the stylists. She then swept hair, folded towels and watched Arrojo work his magic.

"He does a lot of razor cutting and so does his wife. I just hung out there all day and had a good time," Wilkins said. "At the end of the day I got some of his product, one of his t-shirts and I bought his book and he came over, was really friendly and signed my book. He talked to me and asked me where I was from, what I'm doing and wished me luck with my career, and shook my hand. My mom was coming to meet me so he wanted to wait and meet my mom.

Wilkins also got the chance to come back the next day, although not as part of her practicum.

"One of the stylists needed a model the next morning for the class so the next morning my aunt and I went in and got our hair washed and blow dried," she said.

How much would something like that cost normally? A haircut from Arrojo himself will run you $500, A cut from a Master Stylist will cost between $120 and $178 and it goes down to $73 for a haircut from a Stylist Level 1. Arrojo Studio employs 70 and they take about 850 clients per week.

In addition to doing the practicum in New York, Wilkins has also done one in Ottawa at the Cutting Room, at Jermoe's Hair Salon in Calgary and at Jigsaw For Hair Inc. in Invermere. She plans on moving to Kelowna and working there although she would like to go back to New York.

"Nick puts on a cutting course, it was going on while I was there in New York but you have to be certified so I plan on doing it next year," Wilkins said. "I would love to work there."

Part of the fun during her practicum was seeing the different hair cuts people requested and the clothes.

"It was just really cool to see all the different hair styles and how extreme people go in the city. One crazy one was this one girl got a really great faux-hawk and left one piece (at the temple) really long and curled. I've never seen anything like it," she said. "Also, the outfits were great. Stylists at the studio could wear anything. The fashion was so cool, so different."

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