Redken symposium 2019: everything you need to know

Held every two years, the Redken Symposium brings together the finest Redken salons, educators and hairdressers from around the world. The 2019 three day event was held in Las Vegas this week and buzzed with creative inspiration, business seminars and talks from high profile faces. HJ was there to witness the key trends and techniques predicted to hit the industry in 2019. Here’s what we learnt… Creative colour is getting even more creative The Color Movement seminar focused on key 2019 trends and cited Pantone Colour of the Year hot coral and multi-dimensional hair as ones to watch. Redken artist Tara Gardiner showed us a beautiful hot coral colour with a root extension. The new take on root extensions for 2019? Roots are being coloured in vivid, rather than natural tones. Continuing the brights theme, Gian Maria Manaresa showcased a stunning peek-a-boo pixelated pattern and Kelly Scott showed dimensional placement on a brunette with red ends which is perfect for classic clients looking for a twist.  She advised salons to back lowlights against highlights to achieve the stunning look. Josh Wood is revolutionising colour on the catwalk Sheri Doss, Redken vice president of education worldwide, interviewed global color creative director Josh Wood. Josh told the audience about his journey from small town English salon to his flagship London atelier and talked in-depth about the stunning Marc Jacobs SS19 show where he coloured 37 models, matching the hair to each of the outfits. Although the show was deemed a seminal moment for hair colour on the catwalk, Josh was keen to stress that attendees could translate it into their everyday salon lives too. “Hair colour trends from the catwalk starts a conversation,” he explained. “It opens the door to being able to have a conversation with your bread and butter clients. It moves colour from an afterthought [and gives it] more of a fashion-forward focus. We can sell our clients colour that they may not have thought about before.” There are three types of colour client… In the New Do: New Hue seminar, colour transformation was brought to life in a totally accessible way. Celene Dupuis (@celenedupuis), Sarah Bramham (@sarahbramhamhair) and Enrico Compierchio (@enricohairdesigner) identified and demonstrated the three types of colour client – foundational, luxury lifestyle, and creative colour. They suggested that the colour that would suit those clients would fall into ‘whisper, talk and shout’ categories respectively. The transformations, complete with the recipe cards, were then flashed up to the audience so they could re-create on their own clients back in the salon and the attendees saw six models who had been transformed by the Redken artists. Tracey Cunningham tells it like it is Colourist to the stars Tracey Cunningham (aka the hands behind Khloe Kardashian's platinum blonde locks) provided the audience with some brilliant and memorable quotes as she demonstrated balayage on stage. Our favourite sound-bite? “Hair colourists are fighting red, not crime.” The talk also saw her invite her whole team onto the stage, showing attendees that it’s not all about her. She was keen to point out that in this industry you need a loyal and dedicated team behind you. She also advised attendees to treat their clients like VIPs. "Why not give them a couple of face-framing highlights for free. Not everything is about Instagram, it’s about word of mouth recommendations too." In her talk Tracey showed the audience that she is down to earth, open and always realistic. She even told one audience member directly: "You can’t have it all", which the audience loved. Editorial shoots can be accessible The premise of the Hot of the Press seminar was to show that producing gorgeous editorial images is achievable for all. Shooting editorial doesn't have to be for glossy magazines, the images can (and should) be used for salon marketing and social media content. Philip Barwick, Lindsey Olson and Jorge Joao showed the inspiration behind their looks and the tips for creating them. The team explained that although hairdressers are normally focused on styling hair for a 3D world, images are 2D so there's no need to focus on the whole head – before showing that the back of a model's head was covered in bobby pins. Star products for the editorial styling included Redken Triple Dry Dry Texture Spray and Pillow Proof Two Day Dry Shampoo Extender. The team also had some take-away tips for finishing, such as not apply hairspray directly on top of hair. They explained that as hairspray builds up on fly-aways it produces a flash, so needs to be sprayed from underneath or from behind. New York is the inspiration for everything Redken The Grand Opening kicked off with vice president education worldwide, Sheri Doss, welcoming the global audience of 20,000 hairdressers. Highlighting Redken’s 5^th Avenue, New York roots, the show was themed into sections featuring different New York women and their alter egos – all told from the perspective of a New York cab driver. Stand-out hair looks included Gatsby bobs at a 1920s speakeasy bar, dreadlocks at a punk fire show and urban-inspired looks at a rap battle that incorporated Redken’s mantra: “Learn Better, Earn Better, Live Better". The three day event brought education, inspiration and fun to a global audience. Look out for our full round-up coming in the next issue of Hairdressers Journal and an exclusive interview with Tracey Cunningham that will be published online very soon. Bring on Redken Symposium 2021!