With more than 40 Essential Looks collections since 1997, Schwarzkopf Professional held its Canadian debut of the Ikonic Collection on September 24 and 25 at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. This Essential Looks collection for fall/winter 2017 includes eight of the brand’s most iconic cut, colour and styling looks, and showcases how the looks continue to be relevant today.
For the two-day show and look-and-learn event presented by ESP Salon Sales, we got a behind-the-scenes look at the collection and sat down with U.K. hairstylist Tyler Johnston to talk about his career as a celebrity hairstylist (David and Victoria Beckham are among his clients) and how the advice from one of his teachers (Damien Carney) continues to stick with him today. “Whatever everyone else is doing, do the opposite,” he says. Johnston also explained why he’s a big believer in “the haircut coming first” since “colour supports the haircut and brings hair alive.”
Schwarzkopf Professional’s North American colour director Rossa Jurenas and Essential Looks (EL) artists Robin Bacon, Matty Conrad, Michelle Finlayson, Jean-Sebastien Lacombe, Joey Marchese and Kathy Simon shared their experience of working on the collection, along with their love for competition. Fun fact: Each one of these EL artists have competed in the Contessas and are either past winners or Contessa 2018 semi-finalists. Schwarzkopf Professional’s team of technical advisors were also hard at work behind the scenes, preparing the looks for the show.
One key message that Johnston mentioned in our talk was brought to the forefront when Conrad opened the show with six men’s looks using the brand’s Osis+ styling line. Johnston and Conrad have both expressed their dislike of the term “influencer.” Conrad, who has a strong social media following on Instagram and YouTube, says “I’m a barber, and I’m darn proud of it!” when commenting on his influencer status. He also shared some childhood photos of his “bad” haircuts.
The main presentation of the Ikonic Collection featured Johnston, who showcased the collection’s cutting and styling techniques, and Jurenas demonstrating the colour (using a mix of freehand painting and techniques using the brand’s ColorMelter sponge and palette).
Simon and Lacombe presented Schwarzkopf Professional’s BlondMe segment, which showcased the vast range of the brand’s recently relaunched colour line with integrated bonding technology. Simon demonstrating her masterful cutting skills and Lacombe with his creative braiding techniques.
During the look-and-learn, Canadian hairstylist influencers Pamela Adam and Josie Vilay, who were part of the Schwarzkopf Professional Forging Bonds campaign, took the stage to explain what their biggest takeaways were from the campaign. “For me, as soon as I got off the plane [after participating in the campaign], I wanted to have a meeting with my stylists, because I feel like in this day and age, we are caring more about the numbers on our Instagram and not focusing on the clients.”
Schwarzkopf Professional’s education manager Susan Boccia presented a sneak peek of the brand’s new Igora Royal Fashion Lights shades with integrated Fibre Bond technology, which are launching next month. With Schwarzkopf Professional’s 120th anniversary coming up next year, there’s no doubt there’s much more to come.
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Photos courtesy of Schwarzkopf Professional Canada and Salon Magazine
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