Rush wow the crowds at rush live

The atmosphere was buzzing at Rush Live 2009 at Croydon's elegant Braithwaite Hall in the Clocktower Arts Centre.

With a combination of sensational colour and cutting shows, guests were in for a treat.

To kick off the event, Andy Heasman, international artistic director, and Chris Williams, international colour director, took to the stage to motivate the audience. "The future of British hairdressing is getting stronger," said Andy.

Dimitri Loizi, Chris and Andy then brought out their models to create stunning styles including a Blondie-inspired heavy-fringed cut and some sensational colours on crops including a theatrical purple style.

Said Dimitiri. "Inspiration for the colours and styles came from theatre and magic, from Houdini to Derren Brown.

"The purples and blues used look like oil on water for a magical but modern finish."

The second team that took the stage included Lorenzo Favata and Seung Ki Baek, both workshop team members who also worked on inspiring colours. "We hope that you can go back to the salon and experiment with these techniques," said Lorenzo.

With a video introduction, including her three HJ's British Hairdressing Award victories, Tina Farey, editorial director, entered the stage to huge applause, ready to create some of her stunning avant garde looks.

"With inspiration from the American Pop artist Roy Lichtnestein and 80s icon Grace Jones, I've taken elements from both styles, dissected them and brought them into the 2000s," she said.

Some of the looks created by Tina were placed onto bald heads and styles included a giant hair piece that looked like a gothic jellyfish and an extreme quiffed, orange style. The audience were delighted to see how such daring do's could be achieved.

Finally, all of the models and stylists came on stage for a final bow after a successful show that left the audience inspired as well as educated.