Salon Masterclass 2023: Saco on Crafting Individual Cuts

Salon International was the setting for URBANE, a Masterclass delivered by the SACO international art team to hairdressing professionals from around the world. The teams from UK, Hong Kong and Taiwan, drew on 90s minimalism, referencing fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander McQueen amongst others, each notable for their solid foundation in their craftmanship.

Richard Ashforth set the scene as he explained: “They each came with a constructionalist view, building from the ground up. These designers had a great understanding of technique and craft and that is my main message here.” 

Throughout the Masterclass, the team wove the themes of technique and craft into their work, aiming to encourage professionals to explore the art of hairdressing with confidence. Richard pointed out: "Sometimes, if you haven't got that security of a base knowledge, it limits how far you can travel with your creativity and how much you can throw the rules out of the window."

Richard brought the audience into SACO’s world as he talked about the concept of beauty first and the brand's underlying statement that beauty builds from the foundation up. In other words, what the client’s bone structure and hair texture is. Every aspect of their work demonstrated this concept, from identifying ideal length options to weight placement and understanding where a shape needs width or reduction. The team worked on the concept of first creating a silhouette and only then, look at what technique is needed, what the hair needs, the client needs, and what is the best solution.  

Geometry, beauty, colour, and cuts were seamlessly interwoven throughout the 90-minute presentation, showcasing the team's artistry, and colourist Sophie emphasised the importance of blending colour, utilising triangular shapes for softening, and achieving seamless, harmonious results.

Before the presentation moved into its second phase, together Richard and Sophie reviewed the brand’s latest collection, URBANE which is based on drawing upon the fundamentals and celebrating movement, subtle detail and changes in shape all the way through. It is all about following the shape of the head and the haircut. “For this season, the hair is just the colour, it’s about knowing your target shade, what is going on roots and ends for certain effects and that is what we are doing this season,” concluded Sophie.

The second phase of the presentation featured the international SACO team from the UK, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, working on individual models. They captured the audience's attention with their visual free-cut approaches, all rooted in the pursuit of suitability and individuality. Techniques involving large rectangular and diamond shapes, as well as broken convex and concave panels, were showcased. This work was all done visually, using a slicing method to bring a personal style that is all about suitability, and encouraging the audience to find a client’s own look with the ultimate expression that the trend is that there is no trend. 

Richard closed the seminar with his work on model Emmy, controlling the internal shape and working to the edge as he talked about the 90s inspiration, and how those designers who changed fashion also changed the way we saw models, and that this decade brought a turnaround of thinking.  “Great hair is not just for the exclusive club, or a type of person, everyone is entitled to great hair,” Richard finished. 

Did you see what happened on the Artist Spotlight Stage at Salon International?