Jennifer Garner: That's cardboard in her hair: Editors' Blog: Wmagazine.com

Orlando Pita, hairstylist extraordinaire and runway favorite, is often our go-to guy for celebrity covers (and just about anything else, for that matter). For the January issue, he worked with actress Jennifer Garner for the first time, turning her from a jeans-clad mom of two to a contemporary screen siren. We asked Pita all about one-day shoot, which took place at Milk Studios in Los Angeles.

From left: Garner in W; Dior spring 2010.

What was the inspiration for the cover?
We were doing the look I had done for the Dior [spring] show since she was wearing Dior. It was a modern day take on a Lauren Bacall, Old Hollywood style of hair.

You had to hide her bangs, right?
Yes, you can't get that look with bangs. You look like Betty Page then!

Was Garner game?
She was really easy to work with. The fashion was quite extreme. She usually has a girl-next-door kind of image and she doesn't really push the fashion thing too much, but she went for it and was really trusting of all of us, even though I think she was working with us for the first time.

How about the rest of the shoot?
The rest kind of just happened. In one, she had on a one-shouldered jumpsuit, and she looked muscular. People were saying that she looked like Lisa Lyon, who was photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe, and it came together from there.

Tell us about the hair in that gorgeous profile shot of Jennifer in the white Chanel suit.
I was thinking, "I have to get the hair to stand up like the skirt." I looked to the side and I saw a piece of cardboard and I said to my assistant Chris, "Get that cardboard!" I tore a piece off and pinned it to her hair to make it stand up like that. I told her, "Don't worry, just keep posing like you are, there's just a piece of cardboard in your hair." And she was like, "Oh, okay."

So there was no fan blowing?
No, it was just cardboard, pins and last-minute inspiration.

Isn't that the best kind?
I think these are the shoots that end up being the really good ones, the ones that come together at the last minute with the personality of the person and the clothes. When you plan everything and you research it and talk about it for a week, the expectations are always lowered. It's when things come together in a spontaneous way that usually are the most magical shoots.

See the full Jennifer Garner interview by Jenny Comita and all the photos HERE.

Photos, from top: Dior spring 2010, WWD; Garner, Craig McDean.