Tom Connell
Tom Connell is a British hairdresser and Art Director for Davines, known for an instinctive, idea-led approach to hair that exists beyond fashion and trends.
Tom’s work is built from carefully considered elements that come together to tell stories.
Raised in his parents’ salon, Tom was immersed in hairdressing from an early age and officially began working in the industry as a teenager. A pivotal moment came at the age of 15 after witnessing a Trevor Sorbie show, which revealed the creative and performative possibilities of hairdressing and set the course for his career. In 2009, Tom relocated to London to work with Trevor Sorbie, where he spent six years refining his technical precision and creative discipline. He later became International Artistic Director for the brand, travelling globally to lead shows and photographic campaigns, an experience that deeply shaped his understanding of hair as image, craft and communication.
From a desire to tell stories in his own vision Tom Connell began photographing his personal work back in 2013. In this time Tom has developed a photography style which communicates hair in a stripped back minimal aesthetic. Predominantly relying on natural light, analog photography and a strong narrative Tom aims to create photography focusing on the details, personality and nuance which makes people and their hair so captivating to shoot.
In 2019, Tom joined Italian B Corp haircare brand Davines as Art Director, where his focus lies in shaping the photographic campaigns and directing the overall hair identity of the brand, rather than imprinting a personal signature style. Now based in Italy, he shoots all of his own work and spends much of his time working outside the traditional salon environment.
Music plays a central role in Tom’s creative process, influencing both the emotional tone and naming of his collections and live shows. Always questioning convention, Tom’s philosophy is clarity and intent: producing work that is recognisably his own by understanding not only what he is drawn to, but also what he chooses to leave out. For Tom, originality comes through discipline, curiosity and the courage to follow a personal creative instinct all the way through.