Sassoon wow the crowds with hot rod at the hush club

Sassoon UK Creative Director Bruce Masefield and UK Colour Director Edward Darley were the star turns at the latest exclusive Wella Hush Club soiree.

The inspirational evening at Wella Professionals World Studios, in London, saw the duo present hairstyles from Sassoon's latest collection, Hot Rod, while giving the audience an insight to the process of creating a collection for Sassoon.

"Hot Rod first came about from an absolutely stunning image of Linda Evangelista and Helena Christensen with slightly beehived hairstyles," Bruce explained. 

"From there we started to work in a more fluid way, taking inspiration from the 50s, which is not traditionally a very Sassoon decade."

The hairstyles, which contrasted short, head-hugging shapes through the back with layers and disconnection through the front, were indeed an unexpected departure from Sassoon's strong geometric shapes.

Sharing his technical knowledge, Bruce told the audience that over-direction was the perfect way to disguise the transition between long and shorter layers, which is central to the Hot Rod looks.

But promised that this wasn't something to be intimidated by, adding: "We describe it as the rules of freedom. If you can graduate, layer and cut one-length hair, you can do anything that comes into your head."

Meanwhile, Edward coloured the hairstyles live on stage. 'Natural' was the buzz word as he took inspiration from the subtle blend of colours and shapes in a flame.

"It's a really interesting time for colourists," he said. "We have been through bright, brilliantly coloured hair, but now it is not so obvious.

"We have seen the very orange, lots of fake hair and fake eyelashes look on The Only Way is Essex and there was only one way to go from there: stripped back."

Perhaps the biggest surprise was his endorsement of the resurrection of grey hair. And he told the audience: "it's not going to be able covering grey but blending it and enhancing it."

With the anecdotes over and the live display of cutting and colouring complete it was time to see Hot Rod in all its glory.

The presentation saw Johnny, your archetypal 50s man with an exaggerated blond quiff, tempted between sweet angelic, girly looks and with lots of texture and movement, and the dark side of Hot Rod with shorter, more dramatic edgier creations.