GINA HAYTON-2003

GINA GADSBY

The Daisy Girls: Patchwork Punk

One comes from an old, well-loved piece of paper — a write-up from the Daisy Mail, penned by my mum's partner at the time, probably 2002 or 2003. It's aged, a little worn, but restored here as faithfully as possible, because Gina deserves to have her story told properly.

Gina was a regular client at Daisy's Hair Shop, and close friends with all of us — but particularly close to my mum, Janet, the founder of Daisy's Hair Shop. She was completely fearless with colour. Greens, blues, dark bases — nothing was ever off limits for her. She'd come in and change everything, every time, always ready for something new. One of the looks was captured at Salon International London, where the whole team stood together on the same stage, working alongside each other.

At the time, several of us at Daisy's — the "Daisy girls," as we called ourselves — were all exploring some version of the same idea: patchwork colouring, done in abrupt panels rather than blended transitions. Claire, one of the stylists, wore her version on a pretty bob shape with pinks, mauves, and lilacs sitting in their own distinct sections. My own version was red, green, and blonde, with an asymmetric fringe with a short dark overall base colour. It was a shared theme running through the salon during that era, each of us interpreting it in our own way.

For Gina, the palette was red, black, and a coppery gold running through to blonde — sectioned deliberately into panels rather than melted together, giving the whole look a punky, alternative, patchwork feel. Sharp transitions, not soft ones. That abruptness was the entire point, and it suited her completely.

In the other images she is back to back with Madeline on another photoshoot entirely during that era.

Looking at the images now, it captures her exactly as she was in that moment — her presence, her energy, her willingness to try absolutely anything in that chair.