Amy Winehouse’s hairdresser initially created signature beehive ‘as a joke’

‘As we came out the trailer everybody went, “Oh my God! That is it, that is the signature look”’

Amy Winehouse performs in Madrid in July 2008 (Getty Images)

Amy Winehouse’s hairdresser has revealed that he only created her trademark beehive “as a joke”.

Alex Foden created the signature look on the video set for her hit record “Back to Black ”to the delight of the singer and crew.

Ahead of the tenth anniversary of her death on 23 July, he recounted the creation of her iconic look.

“As a joke, I backcombed her hair massively and put an extra packet of hair in,” he told the Sunday People.

“It was never meant to be that big so I said, ‘let’s turn you into a caricature’. I’d get two packs of synthetic hair, which is light, put hairnets around it and sew those together. We called them fur balls,” he said.

“I said, ‘There you go, let’s go and show the finished look’, taking the p*ss obviously, and as we came out the trailer everybody went, ‘Oh my God! That is it, that is the signature look’.”

Foden, who knew the “Tears Dry On Their Own” singer for five years, added that her coiffure became something of a black hole.

“She once couldn’t find her mobile for three days,” he said.

“She scratched her head and it was inside her beehive.”

The celebrity hairdresser credits Amy with “saving” him by paying for him to access professional help for drug and alcohol addiction.

“Amy’s my guardian angel,” he said. “I dream about her a lot.”

The news follows recent comments made by Winehouse’s father Mitch, who says he wants her to be remembered for her successes, not her struggles with alcohol.

The singer died at the age of 27 on 23 July 2011 at her home in Camden, north London, from alcohol poisoning.

He told The Sun that he tries to make people remember the “Rehab” singer for “her talent, her generosity and the love she showed us all” and “not just her troubles with addiction.”

He added: “The thing is, though, and I can’t say this clearly enough, I would give back every penny just to have my daughter back,” he said.

“Ten years after her death, she is still looking after her loved ones — her family and many of her friends have been supported by her — and that’s typical of her. She was generous in life and in many ways she still is now.”