Exactly a year ago, London-based hair and wig stylist Sarah Wood – founder of Necia’s Hairstyling – received a message that just had to be a hoax.
“It was from Michael Handler [Beyoncé’s executive assistant] saying ‘Miss Carter Knowles wants you to make these wigs,” Sarah tells GLAMOUR. Far from a prank, the email was in fact very real, with a request to create a wig wardrobe of 12 different looks for visuals appearing on-stage at the singer’s Cowboy Carter tour – which has finally arrived in London.
“Everything that she picked out were my creations, which is amazing because you often get asked to recreate something that somebody else has done,” she says. Locking herself away for two weeks to get the mammoth task complete, Beyoncé was there in spirit throughout the process. “I dedicated all my time, I don’t think I spoke to anyone else other than my husband who arranged all the logistics to make sure the wigs were safe in the boxes and made it on time,” the hairstylist continues. “I listened to the entire Cowboy Carter album over and over again while I was working.”
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Eagle-eyed fans have already spotted Sarah’s work blown up on the giant star-shaped screen night after night on the tour. If you’ve not managed to get tickets this time around, the hairstylist has given a sneak peek on her Instagram account as more looks from the visuals drop throughout the tour. From a bouffant updo accessorised with bunny ears, to classic 70s curls given a modern twist in baby pink, and vampy V-shaped bangs – each wig totally transforms Beyoncé into a different character. Famously, a pernickety, detail-oriented Virgo, waiting for her feedback, Sarah was understandably nervous. “It was a privilege and I got no notes from Miss Carter, which is wild,” she says. “I’m going to save that forever.”
While Queen B is among Sarah’s newer clients, she boasts a back catalogue of other icons – like Dolly Parton and Dita Von Teese – and upcoming talents including Raye and the electric Amy Taylor, frontwoman of punk band Amyl and the Sniffers. “She’s hot shit right now,” she says. “I gravitate towards people that I absolutely adore and stand for what they’re doing.”
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An essential part of the collaboration process to aid the instinctive way that Sarah works, fruits of the creative partnership can be seen via the band’s recent appearance on Fallon Tonight in the US. With an unlikely reference as inspiration – “It’s kind of 70s, Miss Piggy is on the moodboard,” Sarah says – the final creation was a halo of cascading curls that bounced around as Amy caused a riot on stage. “She is shaking that shit up and down,” the hairstylist laughs. “There’s something beautiful about watching it move and then come back into place – it’s like a Slinky.”
Though she says she can’t quite see it herself, there’s something unique to Sarah about the work that she creates. Big, retro hair with a modern twist that feels full of life and movement – specifically created for the individual wearer. “I get asked a lot to recreate something again, but it’s very hard for me to make the same thing,” she says. “I don’t really have a plan sometimes because it’s part of my creative process, but I always say to people, ‘If you want something similar, I can do it, but it will be unique to you.’”
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Much like Sarah’s work, you’ll have recently noticed your favourite celebrities donning classic hairstyles with a modern twist from Lana Del Rey and Miley Cyrus to Pamela Anderson and Sabrina Carpenter. “I noticed at the Met Gala and the Golden Globes that classic hair is back, with a modern twist,” Sarah says. “It makes you feel quite powerful and sexy so I don’t think it’ll ever go away.”
Now with legends like Beyoncé and Dolly Parton ticked off her bucket list, who might we see Sarah wizarding a wig up for next? “Cher would be epic,” she says. “She’s a legend.” Watch this space.
