WESTFIELD – Ann Marie Walts, a local beautician, is looking forward to taking full advantage of a fantastic opportunity – one she has actually had several times before – providing manicuring services with several other area beauticians for the Sergio Davila show today at 3 p.m., one of the events headlining the annual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.
The owner of The Loft Salon Studio on Westfield Street in West Springfield, Walts is also a published editorial manicurist who has been working on photoshoots in New York for five years and said working on Fashion Week is a dizzying experience, at times.
“The buzz and energy that goes on behind the scenes is nuts,” said Walts, 44, who was born in Westfield and graduated from high school in the city. “You’ll have a model and she’ll be sitting in a chair with an octopus of makeup people, hairdressers and a manicurist at her feet.”
Walts said she got into beauty work over 20 years ago and knew from a young age she wanted to make other people’s beauty her life, having worked as a hair color educator for Redken for a decade before getting consistent work with fashion photographers in New York City several years back.
Over the past few years, Walts has manicured several entertainers, most notably actress Maggie Grace, recording artist Eve and model J. Alexander. She said Fashion Week has continued to grow bigger and bigger every year, and has become more selective about who is able to strut their stuff, on the runway and behind the scenes.
“It has gone back to clamping down and it really has become an ‘invite only’ event and I hold my breath every year hoping I can get a chance to get in,” Walts said.
A full service beautician, Walts specializes in extreme eyelash extensions in addition to being an accomplished hairdresser and manicurist and loves the feeling she gets from working with new clients.
“Recently, I gave a haircut to a new client who works as a psychiatrist who said she hadn’t really liked her in a decade. She had shared with me about a week ago that she couldn’t believe how it made her feel on the inside,” said Walts. “After you do something for 22 years, you can get used to what you do, but then somebody says something like that and you think ‘yeah, yeah, that’s why I got into this.'”
In terms of what she’ll gain from the three-hour Davila show this afternoon, which will see her manicure as many as 20 models, Walts said she hopes her efforts in the Big Apple will lead to more exposure and work for her and her salon, as well as more opportunities to speak with young people.
“I’ve accumulated success and accolades, but I’ve also been invited to talk at schools. A long time ago I was told not to be a hairstylist and sometimes, it pays not to listen,” said Walts. “I still love what I do and getting to go to New York and do it, it’s like the icing on the cake.”
