Issue link: https://www.ahpindiestylist.com/i/1547346
O ne look at Laura Gunter's hair portfolio and it's immediately clear: She loves fashion. is has been true her entire life. When Laura was in high school, she had big plans. Inspired by her grandmother's love of sewing, Laura set her eyes on fashion school. "We grew up without a lot of money," Laura says. "If my grandmother saw clothing she liked, she would say, 'We can just make it. We don't have to buy that.'" When bell-bottom jeans came back into style, Laura thried a pair of jeans, cut them up, and sewed fabric into the seams to create her own bell bottoms. "For me, fashion was a way to express myself and create a visual identity." Aer graduating high school, Laura couldn't afford her dreams of fashion school—despite being accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. So she switched gears and pursued her cosmetology license. "I fell in love with doing hair," she says. "Culture inspires art and art inspires culture. Fashion is a huge part of that—and hair is too." Now, fashion leads everything Laura does. Following cosmetology school, Laura started creating her own editorial photo shoots, which, as many know, is no easy feat due to the creative, collaborative, and financial complexities that come with it. at led her to work at local fashion shows and then New York Fashion Week. Passionate about education, Laura pursued work as an educator at Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Birmingham and for global beauty brands. Laura is now a tastemaker for clients and peers aer being in the industry for 20 years. She splits her time behind the chair as an employee for Ulta 34 AHP Indie Stylist Volume 7 Issue 2