A local hair salon is attracting attention from all over the fashion industry.

Last Monday, Leedz Salon, 2536 Lincoln Way, did a photo shoot for the “Color Passion” hair book. Bobby Quillard, a celebrity photographer from Los Angeles who has recently worked with Kim Kardashian and “The Hills” and “The Girls Next Door” cast members, flew in for the shoot.

Most of the time, the salon enjoys serving college students who dare to try something new.

Doug Ziminski, owner of the 20-year-old salon, attended Iowa State and ran his own salon within his fraternity.

“I fell in love with Campustown,” Ziminski said, so he decided to open his own business there.

“I used to do my own stuff — hair, makeup and photos — and send it to everyone,” Ziminski said. “Finally one book picked up my stuff, and then everyone else wanted it.”

Since then, the salon’s work has appeared in 57 international style books.

Ziminski has been in 14 national trade journals where he was a contributor for makeovers. Of those 14 journals, he earned two covers, beating out seven other contributors.

Ziminski said preparation for the shoot took a great amount of time, which was all worth it.

He arranged for four makeup artists — two from Omaha, one from Dallas and one who was a client  — to work on the shoot, and he got two students from the College of Design to work as photo stylists. Their job was to provide clothes for the models, all of whom were clients who had never before modeled.

Everyone, including the hair stylists, worked for free, except for the photographer.

Steve Fisher, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, spent the day shadowing Quillard and taking pictures of the shoot.

“It was great working [with Quillard],” Fisher said. “He put me at ease.”

Fisher, who initially wanted to try out fashion design for something hands-on and creative, said he felt strengthened by what he learned during the shoot.

“I felt like I was missing a lot of areas, and he filled in a lot of blanks,” Fisher said.

He took about 800 pictures throughout the course of the day.

“What drives these people to the shoot is not the books, but the event,” Ziminski said. “They get a mention in the book, which is cool. It’s a great portfolio builder as well.”

But there was a time when simply getting their work published in a style book wasn’t enough for Ziminski’s hairdressers.

“Two years ago, no one wanted to give their time to something like this, so we didn’t do it,” Ziminski said. “Now, my kids are so passionate about what they do.”

The shoot used styles that are consistent with today’s latest fashion. Ziminski explained that as the economy collapsed, hair styles changed.

“The fashion is softer, prettier and more seductive than in-your-face,” he said. “It’s more about feeling good about yourself.”

He compared the styles they created to “soap opera hair,” which is full and soft but not overdone.

The shoot used mostly college-aged models, but Leedz does not cater only to the college crowd. Ziminski said now that he’s older, his clients are older.

“The general rule is whatever age the hairdresser is, that’s who you attract,” he said, “and your lifestyle also attracts who you work with.”

While his customers are made up of about 10 percent college students, he said those are the clients who aren’t afraid to step outside the box.

“The 18-to-25 bracket is the time when guys and girls have the most options with their styles,” he said. “They can just look at a magazine and say, ‘I want to try that.’”

This age range is the most adventurous, he said, because these people don’t have any baggage to think about.

“We tend not to do high school and middle school kids because their hair is not as important at that age and absolutely no one wants to look outside the box,” Ziminski said.

He added that in a large college town, people don’t have an identity to worry about. “If people don’t like your hair, you don’t have to care,” he said.

He said his “kids,” or his fellow hairdressers, are his favorite part of the job.

“I like to surround myself with certain people,” he said. “Those people really care and are passionate about what they do. I think there’s a certain joy you must experience when you work. Most people don’t experience that joy in your work.”

Ziminski added that his job is the way he gets to express himself.

“I’ve been doing this most of my life, and to me, it’s like hairdressing really is an art,” he said. “What a great joy to express myself every day and make people feel good. That’s pretty cool.”

The excitement within the salon hasn’t ended now that the shoot is over. Now Ziminski and his stylists are just wondering what pictures and styles will be in the book.

“We’re like kids in the summer waiting for Christmas. We have to wait four months for the book to come out,” he said.