Illustration: Samantha Hahn
For this special Fashion Week edition of “How I Do It,” we asked successful women how to navigate their careers and lives during this hectic time of year.
Justine Marjan is a lifelong beauty lover. She spent her teenage years as a salon receptionist before moving on to post-cosmetology school in Los Angeles and landing not one but two assistant roles to celebrity hairstylists Kristin Ess and Jen Atkin, respectively. From there, she amassed an impressive celebrity clientele, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Ashley Graham, and Olivia Culpo.
Now the TRESemmé global stylist, she is in high demand for Fashion Week with a busy schedule of back-to-back shows. She can be found behind the scenes bringing a client’s vision to life and capturing content to share on social media with her nearly 500,000 followers. The new mom from Los Angeles balances her heavy workload with video calls home with her husband and son, workouts at Y7 and (when there’s time) dinners with her team. When she’s done for the day, she winds down with gummy vitamins and a combination of sound machine and earplugs to block out the bustling noises of the city, occasionally skipping parties and late-night events to be ready for early calls.
On a typical day during Fashion Week:
I have different commitments that vary from season to season and from day to day. So the days will consist of hair tests, designer meetings, shows, client hairstyling, panels or events, dictation classes, recreating influencer looks, maybe a fitness class, and dinner or lunch with colleagues or my hair team
I work with an agency and I also work with TRESemmé, the official hair sponsor of New York Fashion Week. As their global stylist, I had the opportunity to work with them through six years of Fashion Week shows, two seasons each year. They will also help me schedule my commitments during the week.
We usually have to arrive at shows about four hours before show time. If it’s a morning show or a presentation, that sometimes means we have to get there as early as 4 or 5 am. outside the door. If the shows are later in the day, I can spend more time getting ready and eating breakfast, maybe filming a tutorial or editing a video. I don’t usually stay out very late. I’ll make dinner and then head back to my room to decompress and get ready for the next day. I have to be well rested to function properly during the week.
On staying healthy during Fashion Week:
It’s usually hard to find time to eat if it’s a busy day. If the cafe is open at my hotel, I’ll grab a coffee and a quick bite before I go, something I can grab on the go. Backstage, there is usually some form of food and drink for the staff and models. I can count on grabbing something there, but I don’t have time to eat it until the show is over. I try to get my assistant to create a little stash that we can hide so we have something when the show is over because otherwise everything gets wiped out pretty quick.
If I have an early call time, at night I’ll just bring takeout to my hotel so I don’t go out to dinner. There is a Sri Lankan place that delivers to my hotel which I get every time I go to New York because there is nothing like that in Los Angeles. That’s what I love about New York, even the takeout you can get is still amazing. It’s not like that in LA at all. I look forward to delicious meals every time I’m in New York. Sometimes my whole team is in my hotel room, prepping hairpieces the night before, so we’ll probably have pizza or something. The last time we did that, we got Rubirosa for everyone. Whether it’s the end of Fashion Week or the night after a show, we all usually like to celebrate, so we’ll go to a fancier dinner.
It is definitely difficult to eat healthy. You’re taking what you can get. That’s hard for me because I’m pretty healthy on a regular basis. If I’m not eating that well, I’m sorry. But I bring all my vitamins with me. I keep up pretty well on getting all my nutrients.
Screen time:
I don’t check my phone much when I’m working because I just don’t have time to read texts or emails. But I’m definitely glued to it in the sense that I’m trying to quickly shoot and edit content. Everything at Fashion Week happens very fast and is very sensitive to time. I feel pressured to get high quality content and get it out quickly. I always have my phone out or I have someone else using my phone to help me try to capture that.
On planning your wardrobe:
Since I come from Los Angeles, I plan everything in advance to only pack what I really need. Backstage, I try to wear flatter shoes because I spend a lot of time on my feet. So something that is comfortable and professional. It depends on the season and the weather, but pants and a jacket or an oversize t-shirt.
On a successful Fashion Week:
Creating a powerful hairstyle that becomes a trend is always the ultimate goal. I love seeing the TRESemmé products I’m using create something really strong and beautiful. The goal is also to gain press coverage for the designer and inspire women around the world to recreate the looks at home using products they can afford. The best feeling is after the show seeing other people on social media or going out to wear the hairstyle.
On being a working parent:
Last year I took my son to Fashion Week with me, which was really an experience. He was five months old. That was his first time on a plane. My husband also came with me. It was still a fairly peak pandemic. When I’ve usually gone to Fashion Week, I’ve gone alone and had a lot more time to spend editing and working in the evenings when I was done. Whereas when my son and husband were there, I didn’t really feel like I could do that. It was very difficult to divide my time. This time, they won’t go with me, and I’m sure they’re sorry. My son is almost a year and a half. But luckily, my husband is a very supportive and hands-on partner, so he will take care of him and my dog, and I know he is in very good hands.
Source: www.thecut.com