Hj men at salon international 2012 - day one

The HJ Stage at Salon International 2012 was taken over by HJ Men for two hours of inspirational cutting, barbering and styling from some of the biggest names in men's hairdressing.

Hosted by HJ Men editor, Matthew Batham, the two-hour session was a celebration of the revival of men's hairdressing and provided the audience with a live demonstration of the wealth of men's styles that the quarterly magazine publishes.

The session opened with a presentation by acclaimed session stylist, Adam Reed of Percy & Reed, London. Famed for his work backstage at London Fashion Week, Adam also has a healthy male client base in the salon he co-owns with Paul Percival.

"Men are really embracing styling and working with their hair," he explained as he showcased a trio of looks. "It's really nice for me to see man taking pride in their hair again."

Demonstrating three looks created completely with BaByliss Pro clippers, Adam explained the influence of fashion on his work as well as the overwhelming cult of celebrity - with Liam Gallagher remaining one of the most requested looks for his male clients.

Adam also revealed that he colours almost 50% of his male clients, with One Direction - whose hair he also colours - leading the way for men to embrace the service.

"If you're doing a great cut, great colour is a natural progression," he explained.

Next on stage was barber Dan Gregory from Melogy Grooming, London. Using just a razor to cut, Dan demonstrated the versatility of this traditional tool and technique.

Dan explained that James Dean and classic rockabilly looks served as his biggest influences for clients, adding that David Beckham still held sway as someone unafraid to experiment with his image.

Despite his classic barbering background and love of traditional techniques, Dan revealed that he is excited about a revival of long hair looks. "Even as a barber I'm interested in longer hair," he said. "I want to see much more if it - it makes things interesting."

And it was long hair that he showcased, razoring a layered, longer men's cuts with squared off sides to maintain a masculine feel.

The Alan D Education team were next to present for HJ Men, taking their cue from heritage styles and classically groomed 1940s looks.

Showcasing a style called simply 'The Man', this was all about tailoring cuts for a traditional look with a modern update.

In keeping with this theme, Edward Hemmings revealed that Alan D work with a classic tailor to create bespoke suits for their models - again, it was traditional and tailored but with an update.

Edward also revealed that all barbers who pas through the Alan D education system must train in women's hair to give them a good grounding in classic cutting with scissors - something they test regularly with 'power days'. These days see the class faced with the imagined concept of a power cut - with all clients that day being cut with scissors only.

David Beckham got another nod, with Edward adding that, "until about 15 years ago, men's hair wasn't that exciting - David Beckham made it OK for men to care about their style and change their image."

Closing the first day of HJ Men's takeover was Jody Taylor of TONI&GUY, a former winner of HJ's Men's Hairdresser of the Year.

Jody showcased two men's looks from the new TONI&GUY Artelier collection, revealing that for the first time men's images would be appearing in the group's window campaigns - a sure sign of the importance of men's style in salons today.

Look one - the Darmody - was named for Michael Pitt's character in HBO 's prohibition drama, Boardwalk Empire. Featuring undercut sides with length on top, the look fused the 1920s and 1990s and could be styled slickly away from the head or left to fall into curtains; a style that Jody says is very much back as part of the nineties revival.

The second look was called the Urbane, and combined classic swept-back 50s looks with an 80s flat top. The elongated quiffed style - which Jody dubbed more of a 'high top' than a 'flat top' - showcased the versatility of length on men's cuts.

Jody brought the show to a close with a host of models sporting styles that he had created backstage at London Collections: Men - the first men only fashion week, which took place in London earlier this year.