Five minutes on salon international with... patrick cameron

Patrick Cameron will be launching his new collection ‘Session – The Editorial Collection’ at his presentation at Salon Live on Sunday 13th October 2013. Who would you most like to collaborate with at Salon International? Antoinette Beenders. I would love to work with her at Salon International. She is an amazing, dynamic woman and her creativity seems endless. I think we would be a great team on stage together. How do you prepare for Salon International? Believe it or not, because I always launch my new collection at the show my preparation for the following year begins soon after Salon International. Marco, my art director and I start to put the concept together as early as November, so we have a good 11 months to get it right. By May everything is decided and my collection is photographed in good time to present to the press. Even when I am presenting my annual program of shows and seminars with my senior trainer Jo Wilcox, the new collection for the following year is always at the back of my mind. I have to work like this, as I hate to be late for anything and my business partner Sue works in the same way. By July, everything goes crazy in our office and we finish off video production, cast models, book make up artists, catering and prepare the show. Preparation is everything in this business - if you don’t prepare, prepare to fail. What's you must see stand, presentation or event at Salon International? I love to see the BaByliss Pro stand. I get to the exhibition on the Friday before the show opens for my rehearsals so I get to see the stand being constructed. I have always been interested in design and I am just as impressed by areas that ‘work’ as I am by the visual impact. BaByliss always seem to get it right. I also love to see if there are any new companies making an appearance. I do like visiting HJ's British Hairdressing Awards Gallery too and I always take a trip over to Habia and Salons Direct to see what’s going on there. What's your top tip for anyone attending Salon International? Check out the land layout before you go (you can get a floor plan from the Salon International website or app) and make a list of what you want to get out of your visit. If it’s education, then check out the presentation times for Salon Live or for the many stages on the exhibition floor and plan your day. Go through the list of exhibitors and mark off the ones you want to visit, that way you don’t waste the day. Product-wise, most of the stands will have something entirely new to show or inspire you in your working life. Most of all, have fun. What's on the agenda for you when the exhibition is over? As soon as Salon International is over I am off to Newton Abbott to present for Aston & Fincher at their academy and then I am off to Ireland again and then Northumberland, Scotland and then Italy to present a big show in Milan. I am presenting in Prague at the end of November and then Korea and Japan with BaByliss Pro. It’s been an exciting year. Salon International takes place at ExCel London from 12 to 14 October. For more information and to book your tickets, visit www.salonexhibitions.co.uk or call 0844 894 2000. Don’t forget to follow @Salon_Intl and #salon2013 for all the latest updates, or like the Facebook page here.