The life of a session hairdresser is often perceived to be terribly exciting and glamorous, surrounded by models, designers and photographers, shooting in exotic locations and leading a globetrotting lifestyle some could only dream of. Sure, there might be days like this - more often than not for a lucky few - but on the flipside, when reality strikes session hairdressing can often be lonely, poorly paid, inconsistent and highly competitive. There seems to be a trend in international circles of late for big session names to sign up with a major product company, but in Australia, despite the ever-narrowing gap, there is still a mile of difference between the worlds of fashion styling and salon hairdressing. Shall these paths ever cross? They have for one session hairdresser - reigning Hair Expo Session Stylist of the Year, David Glover - who is fortunate to be able to mix his obsession for session with his new passion - education for the undeniably hip Kevin.Murphy brand. And he wouldn't have it any other way. By Jenny Burns.

David Glover has travelled the world as a session stylist, working the tresses of some of the world's most famous and glamorous names. But when it comes down to business, he can thank his mother for his hairdressing career. After all, it was she who used to save money from her housekeeping allowance to get her hair cut, permed and tipped - and traipse young David along for the ride.

"I was the eldest of five kids," David explains, "and my mother had a selection of salons she would visit to get her hair done - which one of these depended on how much she was able to save out of the weekly household budget! She really struggled to find someone she trusted, but Anna Sobrio at Fran Capelli in Melbourne was definitely her favourite - and the most expensive at $33 a cut (this was the 80s remember!). Anyway, Anna took a liking to me during one of my mother's appointments and offered me a job shampooing on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.

"Once I learnt to master the basins, I was offered an apprenticeship shortly after and was not about to let up a chance to get out of school at 15. While I would never endorse someone to leave their education so early these days, it doesn't seem to have done me too much harm. Fortunately, my parents considered it a good opportunity and a steady job for life. They were definitely not wrong!"

When David was fully qualified at 18, he realised that he would never be happy to simply work in a salon, day in, day out. He had a childhood dream to see the world and a passionate desire to live in Europe, after being exposed to the strong Italian roots at Fran Capelli. Plus, he had already hooked into the fashion side of hairdressing by developing a ‘total look' for clients, bringing together hair, makeup and styling to create a fashion image.

"Session styling was simply the answer to fulfilling all my dreams," David explains, "and while I had no idea what I was actually doing at the time, I was single minded in achieving my goal of travelling the world and becoming an international stylist.

"As for how I actually started, I still don't really know. I just remember turning up to my first test shoot with (now internationally renowned photographer) Daniela Federici, with a couple of brushes and a small plastic bag of make-up I had stolen from my mother's bathroom. I was petrified, but the pictures turned out well for a first try.

"After that, it was simply a matter of perseverance, trial and error. I was gaining experience by contacting every photographer that was working in Melbourne at the time. Unfortunately, it was during the early 90s and the economy in Victoria was crashing. But on the flip side, it was only a matter of a couple of years before I was offered my first position with an agency overseas, and I was off! That was the start of the next 15 years of my life, living and working in countries all around the world.

"My dream was actually coming true!"

David became addicted to the adventure that session styling presented to him. He was able to travel, learn another language, plus work and live anywhere in the world - and he certainly took advantage of that, first residing in Athens before moving on to Hamburg, Amsterdam and London. He built up a circle of agents all over Europe so that wherever he travelled, he was assured of work.

"I love to travel," David says, "so the best part of all was often being booked on trips that would take me to places I would never otherwise visit or experience. I have been to private islands in the Seychelles, beach resorts in Mexico, wellness spas in the Austrian Alps, five-star hotels in Palm Springs, casinos in Monte Carlo and even on safari in South Africa. I have been incredibly fortunate and blessed.

"A session stylist needs a good balance of work and luckily I have a good base of advertising, editorial and catalogue clients. My focus was always to build my portfolio and reputation, giving 100% to every job, no matter how small. This was how I was able to work steadily on the international circuit for so many years."

Some of the world's most beautiful women have entrusted their locks to David - Elle Macpherson, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Dannii Minogue, Helena Christenson, Sophie Dahl, Miranda Kerr, and Daria Werbowy - whether it be for a magazine shoot, advertising campaign, and music video or on the international runways, under the guidance of session maestros Sam McKnight and Guido Palau.

"Doing the shows was an incredible experience in Paris and Milan," says David. "It was while assisting Guido and Sam on shows for Prada, Alexander McQueen and Jean-Paul Gaultier that I really got a taste for working in the high fashion arena. Doing those shows really pushed me up into a new level in my career, and at the same time I began to work as a contributing editor for Tush magazine in Germany, which is a high fashion based beauty magazine. This was my opportunity to start producing my own shoots and having them published. There is such a thrill in opening a magazine and seeing your work published in it - I get the same thrill every time!"

After 15 years on the global circuit, David decided to return to Australia. He says he felt he had become very disconnected from his home after all the years he had been away and despite his love for Europe; it was like missing a part of himself.

"I love Europe and I feel as much European now as I do Australian," David smiles. "Europe is such an incredible place and so diverse, but Australia offers a certain relaxed and self-assured confidence that you don't find anywhere else in the world. That is very much a part of the Australian mentality. I love the nature and the lifestyle here, something that I didn't quite appreciate before. I also saw that there was a place for me here in the local market to present my ideas and have a positive impact on the Australian hairdressing industry."

David says that despite all of his amazing experiences, both professionally and personally, that his life as a session stylist has brought to him, (including his favourite one - styling Linda Evangelista for a Versace spring/summer catwalk show in Milan some years ago), receiving the inaugural Hair Expo Session Stylist of the Year award in 2007 has been one of his greatest career highlights.

"To be recognised in an industry that allows me to create my dreams everyday is simply an honour!" David enthuses.

"I believe that session styling in Australia is still largely unrecognised. A big step was made by culture and Hair Expo last year by developing the first real Session Styling Award, in which stylists are able to have their work judged in a transparent system and regardless of whether they are affiliated to a salon or product company. This finally gave session stylist some ‘kudos' within the industry and got people (and hair companies) to ask more questions. But there is still some way to go. Hair companies in this country have been slow to pick up on the relevance that top stylists have to their business and (some) magazines show little or no support at all.

"I believe there are still wide gaps between the hair and fashion industries, each failing to take full advantage of the other. As such, good marketing opportunities are being missed and session stylists are left to struggle on their own for recognition and a place in the industry. Having this award has raised the profile for stylists, but more needs to be done. These artists are motivated and highly professional hairdressers who have taken a direction in their work that is often difficult, stressful and lonely."

David is right. Whilst the gap between fashion and hair is less broad, for many years the mere mention of session stylists and salon hairdressers in the same sentence was almost a floggable offence. The lines continue to blur globally, particularly in countries where manufacturers realise the important fashion cred and directional schwing these talented people can share with the mainstream hairdressing community. And from the session stylist's perspective, it's an opportunity to financially reward the ‘brand' that they have spent many years empowering.

Besides, it's all well and good to employ the philosophies of starving artist syndrome, but the fact is, editorial styling doesn't exactly pay well. And what's the point of doing hair for a Gucci runway show when you can't even afford to buy the knock-offs?

These days we see Guido Palau as creative consultant for Redken 5th Avenue NYC and Eugene Souleiman on team L'Oréal Professionnel. For many years, Tyler Johnston has been Global Editorial Ambassador for Schwarzkopf Professional, responsible for the brand's twice-yearly Essential Looks.

It's a trend that is very exciting for both camps, but David believes it will take a bit longer to happen on the homefront.

"To say that a career in session styling can be very insecure is an understatement, and I have to admit that I walked away from the hairdressing industry for many years while I was pursuing a session career," he says. "There is such huge gap in understanding between the hairdressing industry and the fashion industry, along with a lack of funds, and session stylists struggle to bridge that gap and find recognition in either camp.

"Session styling amongst the hairdressing community is largely misunderstood, and while the industry prides itself on progressiveness, it has often over-looked the very people who are working on the fashion forefront around the world because they are generally not attached to a salon. Big international names are lured back with substantial contracts to work for companies, but that trend has not taken off here, forcing great Australian talent to look overseas for support.

"The staving artist syndrome in this country is largely a reality, and sadly, our biggest talents leave."

But David it seems is one of the lucky ones. Three years ago he met Kevin Murphy, another serious session hairdresser who had created his own haircare brand in conjunction with Ozdare, the company that manages and distributes American Crew, mop, d:fi and Revlon Professional in Australia.

"Kevin and I first met three years ago when I returned to Australia after years in Europe," David recalls. "I loved the kevin.murphy product and was enthusiastic to meet him, but I never expected that meeting him was going to become the start of something so big. We soon realised that we had so much in common and a real sense of mutual respect soon developed between us.

"Kevin's products and philosophy are uniquely ground-breaking and I admire him greatly as a hairstylist and pioneer of a new and modern direction in the hairdressing industry. He has developed a brand of natural hair products that have been formulated on a principle of weightless moisture (somewhat similar to that of skin care) using essential oils to rejuvenate and regenerate the hair. His influences have been formed by his many years of working around the world as a session hairdresser, and his images encapture the heart and essence of Australia and our beautiful environment."

Whilst David has acted as a freelance consultant with the brand for the last couple of years, in his new role as National Educator for kevin.murphy David is able to fuse and share his knowledge of both fashion and hairdressing on a more regular basis. And while Kevin is busy overseas promoting his brand and continuing his session career, David fills his shoes on the homefront doing education and training for him around Australia.

"Right now, Kevin is busy building bridges around the world, as his product has really taken off in the UK and USA. They just can't get enough of him over there and the product is simply flying off the shelves as the demand for natural and holistic products increases. It just goes to show what amazing talent we have here in Australia to export."

But when it comes to session styling, David says that both he and Kevin see eye to eye and truly believe in the important contribution that session styling makes to the hairdressing community by building the bridge between the hair and fashion industries.

"Session styling can be very lonely and isolating," David says, "because you do tend to work and travel by yourself. So it wasn't until a couple of years ago while I was on a very intensive round of shooting throughout Europe that Felicity Davis (colourist and educator for kevin.murphy) made me realise how important it would be to make that connection between fashion and hairdressing and what sort of contribution I could make to the Australian hair industry.

"Since then, I have taken a more inclusive approach to my career, trying to look at each challenge from both sides of the fence and see how what I do can be benefited two-fold.

"And although I still believe we have a long way to go to close the gap between these two styles of hairdressing, as far as respect, knowledge and appreciation for both styles goes, the hairdressing community is instinctively very receptive to new talents and ideas and I have been well received. Let's hope that continues!"

For David, it seems as though the future is looking bright.

"Education is my new direction," he smiles. "Session styling takes specific training and many years to develop, and I plan to be at the front-line of education for a new generation of stylists in Australia by running training seminars and workshops around the country. Therefore I will be basing myself in Sydney for the foreseeable future, with no plans to move back overseas. My message is of authentic and mindful hairstyling, promoting an environmental and holistic ethic to the way hairdressers approach their work. I also have plans to develop and write a book on styling as well as a showcase for all my images. Stay tuned!"

And what advice does David have for young people chasing a session career?

"My advice is simply to go for it!" David says enthusiastically. "Session styling is such a great opportunity to create your world around you. The sky is the limit and you are only restricted by the size of your dreams. I have learnt so much about people, places and cultures that inspire and influence my work everyday simply by getting out there and just doing it. I have learnt so much about myself through hairdressing and session styling and it has become such a big part of who I am.

"But keeping a level head and simply being a good person is most important. You come across many different people and challenges in this business and you need to keep a good sense of who you are. Communication is the biggest skill I've had to develop over the years, and I'm still working on it. You deal with so many different people over the course of a day, and people who can communicate well go far in this business.

"The life of a session stylist is a journey, and its only limits are your own imagination. The rewards are hugely satisfying and the experiences are life changing, as this job will take you on a voyage to test your outer limits. It is not for the faint-of-heart!

"There will be many ups and plenty of downs, but if you are single-minded in your quest to succeed, then nothing will stop you!"