Seminar Showcase

TONI&GUY

The TONI&GUY world was brought to life on stage at Salon International as the creative powerhouse that is the brand’s international artistic team reunited for a seminar that touched on education, creativity, session skills and breath-taking artistry. With a host of 2021 British Hairdressing Awards finalist spots under their belts, the show was an explosion of creativity that remained rooted in commercial, client-friendly looks.

Led by international artistic director and British Hairdresser of the Year nominee, Cos Sakkas, the seminar opened with the 2022 Academy Collection, Co-Lab. An accumulation of ideas reflecting the individuality of the team, the eclectic looks embraced creative cut and colour, as well as editorial influences, to create an abundance of consumerfriendly looks with a fashion edge.

“It’s so important to push our clients and inspire them,” explained reigning London Hairdresser of the Year, Daniele De Angelis. The focus was on creating looks that are individualised with adaptable techniques to get clients excited about trying something new. Finished looks ranged from an abstract take on the Chelsea cut and a longer, textured men’s style, to beautiful colour combinations including strawberry pink, copper and vibrant blue created by Schwarzkopf Professional British Colour Technician of the Year finalists, Siobhan Haug and Stuart Matuska.

The team also shared their Keep It Real collection; a celebration of the spirit of inclusivity. Combining softness and strength, the finished results included a Baba Diopinspired fade, and a beautiful bob referencing Twiggy in 1971’s The Boy Friend. Next it was time for editorial looks, created by Efi Davies, Indira Schauwecker, Jon Wilsdon and Elle Page. As official partners of London Fashion Week, this section brought together a variety of techniques created by the team for the most recent Spring/Summer 2022 season.

Inspired by different eras of housewives, the four finished looks celebrated a comic-book vision of Stepford Wife style, with extreme takes on classic 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s shapes. The styles featured a dramatic anti-head shape roll and supersized beehive.

The seminar gave something for everyone - from out-there creativity to client-friendly cuts and colours.

SASSOON ACADEMY

The Sassoon Academy team made a triumphant return with a sell-out seminar presenting their latest collection, Sassoon Now II. Created to challenge, inspire and excite the audience, the collection united modernist purity with creative experimentation and demonstrated the Sassoon concept of shape and balance through cut, colour and style.

Sharing both live colour applications and presentation models, references were as rich and inspirational as ever from Sassoon and included the Y2K trend with high-contrast barcodeinspired colour placement and the concept of ‘recycling’ colour by working with what’s already there and what remains from previous applications.

Finished looks included an irregular sequence of high-contrast creamy blonde and darker browns, contrasting lavender and silver shades paired with a natural base for contrasting depth and light and creamy, baby blonde.

Cutting was next on the agenda, with classic Sassoon shapes given a 2021 update. Assistant UK creative director Danielle Harvey shared a graphic, modern box bob. Her geometric cut combined a classic square shape with lots of internal interest and detail for a bespoke finish. “Clients are either going with their very long hair from lockdown or they’re cutting it off – which is really exciting for us,” she said.

With an archive as rich as Sassoon, iconic cuts also served as inspiration with a refreshed version of the mid 70s Mouche. “We are all very passionate about our heritage,” said senior creative director, Silvia Salerno. “This is a strong, sentimental collection and it’s about how we collaborate with our muse to create something tailormade.”

The show closed with a layered cut from Mark Hayes, building a variation on an Eton crop in a sombre colour palette. As he created the look, he explained not just positioning, preparation and technique but also shared more on his ethos of cutting.

“Suitability and creativity are so closely linked,” he said. “Creativity is about taking what an individual wants their hair to look like, having the techniques to create it and having the sensitivity to understand the person. The artistry then lies in having the imagination, references and repertoire of techniques to create the cut your client wants.”

MAHOGANY

Staying true to the Mahogany Hairdressing cutting and colouring ethos, the Mahogany team showcased their latest collection, Nouvelle Vague. Inspired by the French film art movement, Nouvelle Vague was characterised by its rejection of traditional filmmaking in favour of experimental, visual style.

“Nouvelle Vague was all about breaking the rules,” explained international creative director Colin Greaney. “We’re working with very classic techniques that are key to our philosophy, but we’re giving them a twist.”

The team presented a series of looks from the collection live on stage, demonstrating both classic cutting and colouring techniques including invisible disconnection, internal texturising and colour saturation in an unexpected, contradictory palette. While the stage looks were show-stopping, they built on salon-friendly, workable essentials. Showcased on a trending textured mullet, short curls and classic, bespoke bobs and crops, the colours were concealed and revealed as the hair moved.

PATRICK CAMERON

Building on the success of his ‘Education in Isolation’ live broadcasts, Patrick Cameron took to the Salon International Salon Seminar stage to present his digital show live. This year marked the 30th anniversary of Patrick performing at Salon International, and he did not disappoint.

Patrick presented six beautiful step-by-step looks, inspired by viewers’ choices of their favourite hairstyles from his weekly show. As ever, each look was built on simple, effective techniques, created to make dressing hair easy. Adding to versatile foundations, Patrick stressed the importance and effectiveness of repetitive movements for maximum results. “My long hair education is all about building confidence,” he said. “If I can give you even one hairstyle that you can take away and recreate after today, it’s all been worthwhile.”

Showcasing a series of braids, twists and clever wrapping techniques, Patrick’s finished looks included a braided chignon forming a Mohican silhouette, a corset-laced effect and an exceptionally clever updo formed using a chopstick.

To see more on the Salon Seminars head to hji.co.uk