Joey George first arrived to New York City from Pennsylvania to pursue a career as a ballet dancer, but soon found his head turned by the artistic possibilities of a life in hair. He began working as a session stylist, and soon his varied hair creations were regularly appearing on the pages of Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar.

In 2014, George created a series of bespoke wigs for Lady Gaga, destined for her ARTPOP world tour. Now based between New York and London, his current focus is on renovating his New York studio office, with plans to open up the space as a gallery to showcase his latest projects.

Do you remember the moment you first thought that hair is what you wanted to do? When I was about 8 years old my grandmother taught me to braid. She would get her hair washed and set into place once, maybe twice a week in the local parlour. She would bring me along; I would sit under the dryer and pretend to have my hair dried. When I was about 10 or 11, I cut my nanny’s hair with crayola scissors during a bedtime story… I don’t think she was very happy with that snip!

Tell us about your scrapbooks, what do you use them for? I’ve been documenting hairstyles and creating visuals as supporting references to show to various photographers and designers for years. It was all part of my creative process of developing the hair content for the project. When I share references I want it to come from a place of my own perspective, of what I think would be best for the model. I’m a very intuitive person, so visualising a subject in its final form is very easy for me. Then to translate my perspective to another artist, I would draw, paint or collage in my book.