He’s partnered with the LGBT Trans Wellness Center in LA for his first ever HAIR MASTERclass.
Celebrity hairstylist Andrew Fitzsimmons has worked with many A-list stars including Shay Mitchell, Halsey oh and that family named the Kardashians just to name a few.
The Irish hair superstar is kicking things up a notch on his already dazzling career by launching his first ever Hair MASTERclass at the Trans Wellness Center in Los Angeles next year.
It will take place on February 18th, 2019, where people who are obsessed with all thing’s hair will get to see and hear from the man himself on everything from his illustrious 20-year career to a traditional look and learn including his most-requested looks and tips and tricks from the red carpet and so much more.
After numerous international on-stage appearances and a sold-out masterclass in the UK, this event will be Fitzsimons’s first masterclass in the United States. The masterclass is in collaboration with the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Trans Wellness Center, with whom Fitzsimons founded the Trans Cosmetic Donation Program, a donation program in which the LA LGBT Center distributes new personal hygiene and cosmetic products, donated by businesses and individuals in the beauty industry, to low-income transgender and gender non-conforming people.
Andrew chatted with me at Instinct about his first ever domestic class in the States, what will happen when it occurs, the importance of his partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Trans Wellness Center and who his favorite celebrity client is.
Congrats on your first ever class in the states! How did it feel when everything got confirmed?
Thank you, it’s been a process getting here! I feel like there’ve been a lot of good little milestones along the way; I’ve done several event & education appearances over the past few years and recently worked with an amazing hair extension line, BeautyWorks, for my Manchester masterclass. They were such great experiences, I knew I wanted to do this on my own in LA, so I’m really excited.
Can you tell us more on what will happen when it all goes down this February?
THE HAIR MASTERclass is a one-day beauty and education event. It will be about five hours and is not only inspired by the traditional “beauty masterclass” model, but will also be part Fashion Week, part TED Talk, part career development – I like to put my own spin on things, so it’s got a bit of a different vibe. There will be four main sections: my background and career story, the hair look and learns (where I’ll give techniques, tricks and show how I create styles for the red carpet), a panel discussion with other members of the beauty industry who I really admire and a philanthropy portion. It’s super important to me that I use this platform that I have for giving back.
What made you want to partner with the Los Angeles LGBT Trans Wellness Center for this?
Partnering with the LA LGBT Center is a natural fit! I co-founded the Trans Cosmetic Donation Program with them; it’s an ongoing donation initiative which allows beauty industry professionals (and anyone, really!) to give their extra unused personal hygiene and cosmetic products to the Center, which they then distribute to clients of the Center’s Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (TEEP) and to the clients of various local organizations that serve the trans community. Transgender people—particularly trans women of color—experience higher rates of poverty and unemployment, impeding their ability to purchase personal hygiene and cosmetic products, so it allows those of us who get so many of these products for free to put them to good use.
Will there be any special guests with you that evening?
Oh, yes there will – I’ve got some really exciting people already confirmed!! I’m going to be announcing the experts featured on the panel, plus influencer models and other special guests on Instagram at @thehairmasterclass – so stay tuned as we have a lot of announcements coming up!
You've worked with some pretty big names in the entertainment world. Any favorites from the bunch?
I don’t take it for granted that I get to work with seriously badass, inspiring & kind–and, of course, beautiful…but that’s a given! —women every day. I’ve learned so much from my clients and am so appreciative to be doing the work I do.
What else do you have going on in the upcoming months?
I’ve got a busy few months ahead. First up, I’m doing an online course for hair stylists with BehindTheChair.com! There are a few projects and collaborations in development that I’m working on that I can’t share quite yet. And then there’s the usual, like travellng with clients, my work with BeautyWorks and Alterna Haircare and of course supporting the Trans Cosmetic Donation Program however I can!
You can follow Andrew on his Instagram here and his HAIR MASTERclass here. If you are interested in purchasing tickets as well, you can click here.