Toni&guy salon seminar at salon international 2021

The TONI&GUY world was brought to life on stage at Salon International as the creative powerhouse that is the brand’s International Artistic Team reunited for an exhaustive seminar that touched on education, creativity, session skills and breath-taking, avant-garde artistry. With a host of 2021 British Hairdressing Awards finalist spots under their belts and a truly diverse lineup of talent, the show was an explosion of creativity that remained rooted in commercial, client-friendly looks. Led by International Artistic Director and British Hairdresser of the Year nominee, Cos Sakkas, the seminar opened with an insightful exploration of the 2022 Academy Collection, Co-lab. An accumulation of ideas reflecting the individuality of the team, the eclectic looks embraced creative cut and colour, as well as editorial influences, to create an abundance of consumer-friendly looks with a fashion edge. Over the course of the seminar, the team took it in turns to break down their looks with beautiful simplicity, sharing the insightful techniques and trends they have developed over the last 12 months and the resulting styles they have created. “There’s something for everyone within this collection,” explained reigning London Hairdresser of the Year, Daniele De Angelis. “It’s so important to push our clients and inspire them.” Showcasing a palette of playful, optimistic colours and creative placements, as well as versatile cutting movements and styling tips to achieve trending shapes, the focus was on creating looks that are highly individualised with adaptable techniques to get clients excited about trying something new, and unique. Finished looks ranged from an abstract take on the Chelsea cut and a longer, textured men’s style – perfect for injecting personality and shape back into longer lockdown lengths – to beautiful colours combinations including strawberry pink, copper and vibrant blue created by British Colour Technician of the Year finalists, Siobhan Haug and Stuart Matuska. The team also shared their Keep It Real collection; a celebration of the spirit of inclusivity and staying true to your own hair ID. With references including 90s hiphop, 70s shapes and fashion week looks, styles were gender fluid, bespoke and versatile. Combining softness and strength, the finished results included a Baba Diop-inspired fade, a beautiful bob referencing Twiggy in 1971’s The Boy Friend and plenty of natural texture. Next it was time for editorial looks, created by Efi Davies, Indira Schauwecker, Jon Wilsdon and Elle Page. As official partners of London Fashion Week, TONI&GUY work across countless shows and presentations, and this section brought together a variety of techniques created by the team for the most recent Spring/Summer 2022 season. Inspired by different eras of housewives, the four finished looks celebrated a comic-book vision of Stepford Wife style, with extreme takes on classic 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s shapes. The exaggerated styles – a dramatic anti-head shape roll, extended double chignon, supersized beehive and fluffy curls – all showcased the creativity and playfulness possible with editorial hair, as well as the versatility of the label.m range of styling products. “We love fashion week because we can experiment and push what we do,” explained Indira. “There are no boundaries with editorial hair.” The show closed with a breath-taking avant-garde presentation, featuring ethereal but strong structures that felt at once futuristic and romantic. Combining organic, flowing shapes with futuristic materials, the looks perfectly demonstrated why the TONI&GUY team have such a strong heritage of avant-garde artistry – including three spots in this year’s Avant Garde Hairdresser of the Year category at the British Hairdressing Awards. Providing something for everyone - from boundary-pushing creativity to client-friendly cuts and colours - the bumper show from TONI&GUY left the audience truly inspired with techniques to take away and try. With thanks to LWPR for reporting on this seminar.