An audience with akin konizi: a night to remember
Published
16th Nov 2010
by rachael
An Evening with Akin Konizi saw an intimate audience gather at the L'Oréal International Academy to see the man himself present a potted history of his career, answer questions from the floor, and deliver some of his trademark show-stopping platform work.
The evening provided a unique insight into HOB's approach to hairdressing, and the techniques and philosophies that have helped the multi-award-winning salon chain get where they are today.
Following an introduction by Mark Creed from the Fellowship of British Hairdressing, Sean Dawson, manager of HOB Salons led the evening, introducing Akin to the stage and presenting a show reel of his earliest collections - proving that even from an early age, Akin's passion and skill for creating stunning imagery was evident.
Sean and Akin then gave an amiable question and answer session on stage, with Sean jokingly setting a kichen timer to prevent notorious raconteur Akin running over his designated time!
No topic was off bounds, and the audience enjoyed hearing everything from how Akin got started in hairdressing, to how and why he launched the HOB Academy.
He also discussed his passion for technical skills, and stressed the important of learning classic hairdressing techniques and fundamental cuts and finishes, joking that, "The only thing wrong with basic hair, is that it gets a bad name."
The second half of the evening saw Akin present a series of models, cutting and styling two very different looks live on stage. Demonstrating some classic HOB techniques, Akin explained that rather than reinventing himself with each collection, he believed it was more important to progress yourself and move forward, but still to maintain aspects of your personal style.
"Technique is more important to me than sensationalism," he added. "Once you have the technical skills right, then you will have the confidence to be creative."
Managing to stick almost perfectly to his allotted time, Akin closed the evening by presenting his five finished models in a mini show.
Seeing the looks presented against a backdrop of his past and present collections, it's safe to say that the whole audience left feeling inspired to create - and brush up on those technical skills.
