Disco Fever with Riccardo Simonetti

Go out, go out and celebrate life! And we really lay it on thick: Glitter, color and a mane that would make the proudest lion retreat in appreciation. Riccardo Simonetti shows us how it’s done, got2b provides the products and we provide the applause.

Photography: Tobias Wirth @towilive
Styling: Konstantinos Gkoumpetis @konstantinosthestylist
Hair & Make-up: Florian Ferino using got2b
Model: Riccardo Simonetti @riccardosimonetti
Production: Julia Gelau @juliagelau____

FACES: What hair product do you take to a desert island?
Riccardo Simonetti: There are two hearts beating in my chest. Do I want to look cool there, or do I want to adapt to the island’s climate? The product I couldn’t live without is a good hairspray, a very strong one! For example, “spray glue” from got2b, because I have to blow-dry my hair before I style it and mist it with hairspray so that my natural curls don’t come through. But the hairspray alone wouldn’t do me any good on a desert island. I also need a hairdryer and a straightener. When I think about it, I would have to choose the Waves products from got2b so that I don’t even have to blow-dry my hair, but can indulge in my natural curls on the desert island.

F: Long hair means a lot of work. How much time do you invest in your mane every day?
Riccardo Simonetti: You have to understand and learn when you can let your hair perform and when you need to give it a rest. If I have a shoot where my hairstyle is changed several times, I know it’s going to be an intense day for my hair. So if I can, I’ll give him a rest over the next few days. I’m a fan of having your hair professionally done once or making a real effort yourself and then trying to maintain the style over the next few days – with dry shampoo, for example. The hair then recovers better. It’s better to take enough time for your hair and not maltreat it with heat every day. Because that’s exactly what it ultimately breaks if you do a little damage to your mop of hair every day. My tip: It’s better to do it right once and then simply continue to maintain it.

F: Can you tell us your ultimate tip for a bad hair day?
Riccardo Simonetti: My ultimate tip for a bad hair day, for example, would be to use the got2b “spray glue” and then simply gel back the roots to get a kind of wet look. The hair doesn’t have to be freshly washed and the waves don’t have to be perfect. You don’t really need a perfect base to make something cool out of it.

F: Could you live without your hair?
Riccardo Simonetti: For me, my hair is like a part of my body and not just decoration. They are always a statement. As a man with long hair that looks like mine, you always have to comment on it in our society. Some often question it, others find it beautiful – this statement polarizes. My hair and my look evoke so many reactions, and not just in Germany, but also when I travel and am out and about in other countries. People often ask me if I wear a wig. A man with perfectly styled hair is very unusual for many people. The same applies to women with short hair. When you cut your hair as a woman, you have to listen to a lot. “Oh my God, you’ll never find a man again. Men think it’s totally stupid” or “you look like a boy”. If you break with gender conventions in such a subtle way, you have to be aware that you make your life choices regardless of whether society thinks they are good or bad. I think that says a lot about me as a person and about the person I am. That’s why my hair really isn’t just my hair.

Riccardo Simonetti: “My hair is like a part of my body.”

(Riccardo Simonetti)

F: How much do you cut your hair for?
Riccardo Simonetti: How much do you have to pay to cut off your left arm? (laughs) If I were to have it cut off, something really big would have to happen, something like a movie role, for example, and then please give me the Oscar. (laughs) Under these circumstances, I would perhaps agree. It’s not as if I don’t know what I look like with short hair.

F: That said, is there a style you’re dying to try?
Riccardo Simonetti: I would love to wear one of those Marilyn Monroe wigs. But not at all ironically, but really seriously. I think I’d find short, hydrogen-blonde waves like that kind of interesting. I’ve tried a lot of things and experimented with wigs, but I’ve never had such platinum blonde, chin-length hair. I recently saw a shoot where a man, who also has a full beard, was wearing a Marilyn Monroe wig. It looked incredibly cool.

F: What advice would you give your 14-year-old self?
Riccardo Simonetti: My 14-year-old self was extremely brave, so I don’t have to give him any advice. I would perhaps rather say thank you. I’m actually quite proud of my 14-year-old self. People have a tendency to find old pictures bad and to be ashamed of their former selves. But you should try to deal with your own self in a more loving and compassionate way. After all, we have this person to thank for the fact that we are the way we are today. For example, if you are happier with yourself today, you don’t owe it to yourself, but to the version of yourself you were back then.

F: Do you see it as your mission to inspire other people?
Riccardo Simonetti: Absolutely. I know exactly how I used to be inspired by things and how much it meant to me when I saw someone who was exceptionally dressed. I thought it was great to see Lady Gaga in a thong and two clamshells at the airport and thought: Wow, if she’s brave enough to wear that, then I’ll manage to wear what I want to wear to school. We need more identification figures who do their own thing. If everyone ends up looking the same and doing the same thing, how can we be inspired? As a rule, you do what everyone else does because it still takes a lot of courage to completely decide against it and do things the way you want to do them.

F: How did you become so fearless at such an early age?
Riccardo Simonetti: I often asked myself the following question back then: Is it more important for me to deny myself and be liked by other people in return? Or do I want to go my own way, even if it sometimes means getting obstacles in my way? Then I had to make a decision. For my part, I simply found so much joy in discovering the person I was that I didn’t want to be held back. I had so much fun trying my hand at fashion. If I had had to do without this part of my life, so much joy would have been gone. I didn’t want to give up this joy. That’s why my advice is always to be intuitively guided by things that are good for you.

F: Who was your mentor back then?
RRiccardoSimonettiS: Pop culture was my mentor. I watched so many movies, watched so many TV shows and music videos and read so many celebrity interviews when I was a kid or a teenager because I was so fascinated by that world and I wanted to be a part of it. Many people look at pop culture and pigeonhole it, considering it superficial and uninspiring. It is only there for entertainment. However, I don’t believe that entertainment should only make us laugh, but can also give us food for thought.

F: What clichés apply to you?
Riccardo Simonetti: Everyone is a cliché from time to time. I think it’s totally fine to use a cliché and play with it. However, you should be aware that you are always more than that and that every person is also more than the one facet that he or she shows us. When people see me on TV, for example, they see a few facets, but by no means all of them. There’s a lot more of me.

Click here for the exclusive FACES interview with Heidi Klum.