John Robert Mouzakis, is one of Private I QG salon most talked about recent additions.
With a style that famous male-focused-fashion-
Dress Me talks with Mr.Mouzakis about his tattoos, his charming Small town Michigan heritage and Hong Kong humidity…
(DM): What brought you from A small town in upper Michigan to a city focused one like Hong Kong?
(J): I grew up on a dirt road in the middle of the woods where I couldn’t even see my neighbors house. My street was a few miles long and only had 5 houses on it. The hole city had less then 20,000 people in it! I knew since I was a kid I wanted to move to a big city because of all the excitement and things to do that I never experienced before.On my first day of Hair school at MSSC The instructor told us to make short term and long term goals for your carriers and I said that I was going to move to a big city after I graduate and then move to Hong Kong… All my class mates laughed at me all thous years ago and said to stop dreaming that will never ever happen …. Guess they were wrong , now look at me.
(DM):Now that your established in Hong Kong, you must have some fav hot-spots that you hit! Can you fill me in on them? (cafes, clubs, restaurants,
(J): Ha! Lamma island all the way! Every thing about Lamma is the best! Indian food at beer garden, vegan cake at book worm, coffee at Lamma mamma cafe, Laying on the beach with a cold beer on a hot summer day…. Seriously it’s the best place on earth….
(DM):Talk me through your (clothing) style, where do you get your inspiration from and where do you shop in Hong Kong?
(J): I’ve been changing it up lately actually… I went from cheap Monday jeans and American Apparel deep-v’s every day too being obsessed bow-ties.
I’ve also been trying to grow a handlebar mustache for a while and I almost got it!
My shirts are usually h&m because they seem to be the only shirts that I’m happy with the fit and don’t have to tailor them. My pants are all custom made so that they fit just how I want them too. I’m super picky about pants and just cant walk in to a store and be happy about the fit because they are always so wide in the legs.
I would also have to say mustache is the best place to shop in Hong Kong for men. Not only is the shop cool but they have a pug that hangs out in there all day.
(DM):I heard that tattoo’s are like scars – they all have a story behind them. You must have a novel on your arms! Can you tell me one or two…. And how is the Hong Kong reaction to them – full ‘sleeves’ aren’t very common here.
(J): They are like scars… And very addicting!
Most of my tattoos have story’s… My black and grey arm is all about when I went to Sri Lanka for tsunami relief back in 2005. I was there for a few months working in orphanages and building houses and schools that were destroyed in the tsunami. My arms were both done by one of the greatest guys on earth Dr.Kevin Lewis at high voltage tattoo in L.A (kat Von d shop in L.A ink tv show).
I looked around in Hk for a long time for the right artist and last year found Wang at Tattoo Temple. He’s awesome! I got a gypsy/lady justice on the side of my neck and “blessed are the merciful” on my throat. He’s so skilled and passionate about his work he’s the only guy I’ll ever go to in Hong Kong for sure!
(DM):As a rule, girls in Hong Kong struggle with humidity and frizzy hair. Is their an easy fix? Or do more extreme actions (Brazilian Blowout) need to be taken? Whats you MUST DO tips on how to survive humidity?
(J): I would say the more you do to”fix it”the worse it’s going to get.so use your natural hair texture on the really humid days and use a anti fizz serum like keristas Olio relax to keep the frizz down. And the less you touch it the less frizzy it will get through out the day.
Another great trick is Get a deep moisturizing conditioner and after you take a shower at night leave it in you hair and sleep with it on your hair and rinse it out in the morning and it will help fight the frizz all day.
If all else fails go get your self a headscarf. Head scarfs are really in right now and there are tons of different ways to wear them.Just Google Head scarf and you can find hundreds of different step by step ways to tie and wrap them, try a few and see what works best for you.
The final option if all else fails is keratin treatments or Brazilian blow out.
It’s a great product for frizzy hair and helping control your natural texture.
Almost every client I have that has Brazilian blow out loves it because it just
make there life so much easier.
(DM):Everybody LOVES the inside fashion goss! Can you tell us a bit about your experience as a hair stylist on ‘Project Runway’ and ‘Americas Next Top Model’ ?
(J): When I was in Chicago I did Jeffrey Sebelias first show after winning Project Runway session 3.
It was one of the first shows that was a big deal to me because it kind of lunched my career in in the big show and celebrity styling carrier. I got to say Jeffrey Is one of the nicest design dudes I’ve ever met, His “character” on project runway was kind of the bad boy mean guy but he’s a real cool guy in real life.
As for Americas next top model… That’s another story.. Also when i was in Chicago we did a show for Americas next top model and the stage director was completely out of her mind!
She kept telling us too do this..do that.. Touching everything and screwing things up so bad we would have to redo the hole style! The stylist in charge of the show that I was working with was getting so mad (and he never ever gets mad) that he just looked her right in the eye and tossed a can of hair spray at her and told her to do it her self and we packed up and we all walked out! We all got in a cab and she was running down the street in her heels screaming after the cab with a can of hair spray in her hand ! A few weeks latter we did a shoot for America next top and she wasn’t there any more!
(DM):’Americas Next Top Model’ is known for their extreme hair makeovers – have you ever done anything similar on a client and how did they react?
(J): Yeah of course I have! That’s how I met my wife Nina haha.
I’ve done lower back length to short bob and every thing in-between.
I use to do a lot of shaving off one side of a girls hair in Chicago about 3 or 4 years back and it really seems to be getting popular now from Cassie Ventura from the ck one caramel last year.
I do really like to change things up and do extreme make overs because it really changes the way people look at them self after they do something different.make you look at your self in a hole new way.
Just got to make sure the make over is for the right reasons and if it’s not you’ll hate it after.
(DM):As a seasoned stylist at US Fashion Weeks – you must have one or two stories from behind the scenes? Tell us about your fav shows and the hair ‘dos’ you created.
(J): One time in Chicago fashion focus show the runway was in Grant park in down town and it was poring rain that night. And the tent that was over the run way split open back stage and soaked all the dresses and garments that were going out on the runway in just a few mins. Everyone had there blow-dryers trying to get them as dry as possible on the colored ones that were more obvious when they were wet.all the darker colors went out dripping wet and we were all over the models with blow-dryers till the second they were on the runway.
It ended up being ok but it was pretty obvious they were soaked with water.
And I sprayed the old big boss of Macy’s in the face with hair spray on accident when I was trying to fix a models hair before the model went out on the run way….that was really not good she’s a really big deal in Chicago/USA fashion world.
My favorite shows were always the young designers. There work is awesome because they are not a part of a more popular designer brand that will put them in a box and limit there creativity. I really like the freedom they showed in expressing themselves through there designs.
(DM):Do you work on catwalks, editorials here in Hong Kong – If so, do you find the scene over here different from the Fashion scene back in the US?
(J): I do. I think that the fashion scene in USA is much different from Hong Kong and from person to person from town to town. USA is huge with so many different people so you just can’t put one name out there and every one want it.I think in Hong Kong from what I’ve worked on and seen it vary focused on name brand and top of the line luxury most of the time. I think in USA it more focus on the average person even more so now with the terrible economy. No one has any money any more to buy the kind of brand and stuff Hong Kong people do. There also isn’t a million adds for Louis Vuitton and Gucci everywhere out Side of the magazines and more focused on the local designers and original different designs you can’t find anywhere else.
I’m going to finish with a Charlies Angels question…
Can you give a few basic seasonal trends for Blonds, Brunettes and Asian hair?
Blonds this spring and Summer is big wavy hair. With Summer coming up keep that big beachy hair. It’s playful and easily goes from work to play.
Brunette you want to get that nice shinny healthy look. Don’t be scarred to richen up your color for summer to help you really grab attention at the office or out on the town.
My favored hair style for Asian hair is Defiantly a asymmetric bob.its a cut that is always in style no matter what season. It works great with the natural hair texture ,facial features as well as bone structure. It’ will always be in style no matter what happens.
(DM):Last question – What are you going to do with my hair!?
(J) “… *snip, *snip *cut…”
QG PRIVATE i SALON
Podium Level 6
Four Seasons Hotel
8 Finance Street Central Hong Kong
2521 0070
