Lady Gaga’s Hairstylist Shares His Styling Secrets For The “House Of Gucci” Movie
Frederic Aspiras On How He Transformed Lady Gaga For “House of Gucci”
Spiral perms, roller sets, French lace front wigs—great hairdressing always goes back to strong foundational techniques. That’s why celebrity hairstylist Frederic Aspiras (@fredericaspiras) took it back to these OG methods for Lady Gaga’s new movie “House of Gucci”. Dressed in head-to-toe Gucci (obvi), Lady Gaga’s longtime personal hairstylist shared his process and inspiration for the film and how he ultimately created over 50 looks to transform Lady Gaga into Patrizia Reggiani, the Gucci housewife who plotted to murder her husband in 1997.
“I wanted to be as authentic as possible,” he explained in an exclusive interview with BTC. “So I used the exact techniques that a hairdresser in the time periods would use. We did ’70s wet set rolls, ’80s spiral perms, ’90s power blowouts and A LOT of backcombing. The hair wasn’t just there, it needed to be a tool for [Lady Gaga] to use to really delve into the mind of the person she was portraying.”
For Patrizia’s early looks, Frederic used inspiration from Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida
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Frederic prepared by researching Italy’s hairstyle trends throughout the years, which resulted in an entire “glam trailer” of proposed styles.
Lady Gaga was committed to the role, even speaking in an Italian accent for months and requesting Frederic color her signature platinum to brunette. He ultimately took her back to blonde for the film’s press tour.
“Thank God for Joico Defy Damage because her hair is still healthy after such a drastic transformation,” he shared. But to get him ready, she shared one piece of advice: “I do not want to see Lady Gaga on that screen.” With that, Frederic started preparing for the five-month project.
This process included working with makeup artist Sarah Tanno (@sarahtannomakeup) on researching the hairstyles and trends of Italian women in the ‘70s. “There aren’t a lot of photos of Patrizia before she was married,” he explains. “So, we interviewed locals that knew her and watched old Italian movies to really learn about the trends that were relevant during that time. We ultimately drew a lot of inspiration from Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida.”
A side-by-side look at Patrizia in real life and Lady Gaga’s portrayal in the film
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With their research done, Frederic and Sarah created a glam trailer equipped with floor-to-ceiling mood boards and a 450-page directory of looks that coincided with the film’s scenes. “It was like CSI in there. It looked like someone created a crime—well they did—but for hair,” he exclaimed.
But the looks weren’t accepted right away. In the beginning, film director Ridley Scott only wanted two looks for Gaga’s character. “[Ridley] wanted to make the editing process as easy as possible. But for the sake of authenticity, I knew that wasn’t going to work, so I fought! I fought for that spiral perm!” Frederic exclaims.
To highlight Patrizia’s style evolution, Frederic adjusted each look daily to maintain authenticity.
Determined to show the veteran director what he could do, Frederic and his assistant worked day and night to ensure continuity while transforming the actress through decades.
“We colored those wigs every night. Starting from her first look that was very basic to incorporating more salon-esque techniques when she became a Gucci. I wanted to make sure you could see the rags to riches story,” he explained.
Frederic colored each wig daily to highlight the subtle changes to Patrizia’s look
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Since movies aren’t filmed from beginning to end, Frederic had to rely on the products to make sure the styles held. “I was not allowed to touch her up while filming. So I really needed products that wouldn’t mess up or allow the styles to fall.”
Those products included Joico JoiGel Medium Styling Gel for the wet set looks, JoiWhip Design Foam to create the individually finger-twisted spiral perm look and JoiMist Firm Protective Finishing Spray to lock the styles in place onset.
Working through grief, Frederic paid tribute to his late mother and everything she taught him.
At the end of it all, Frederic’s work in this film serves a higher purpose: A love letter to his late mother, also a hairdresser, who died six months prior to shooting.
“When I was asked to do this film, I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to do hair anymore. But working and using the techniques I learned from her at such a young age, I was able to work through my grief. Every look in this film reminds me of her. I took my sadness and used it in a way that helped me continue her story.”
Click here to read more about how Frederic’s mother inspired his success
