Last month we were in Parma, Italy for the World Wide Hair Tour 2018, it was an incredibly inspiring experience...
It all started with a welcome dinner. We arrived at the massive venue situated out of town in a huge convention centre, as more buses were pulling up and literally thousands of hairdressers arrived. We were led into an anteroom which was really a huge installation of plants, light, music and images overloading the senses all at once. You can imagine how many iPhones were out at this stage!!
Before entering the room itself, there was a super cool shopping experience where you could buy t-shirts (organic of course), bags and mini planters- all for a donation! There were little Perspex boxes everywhere and you just chose what you wanted and paid what you wanted. Amazing concept, everyone was happy to add to the donation boxes knowing it was all going to good causes.
We literally RAN into the dining room to claim 2 tables for NZ. It was a free for all and really funny, but somehow it worked! Beautifully set tables, a 3-course menu with wine..how they carried this off for 3000 guests I’ll never know but they did, and without a hitch. There were a LOT of waiters I might add!
The evening included several shows showcasing stylists from around the world who are all part of Davines International creative team. Each stylist’s show had a theme linked to global warming, diversity, waste production, and all environmental issues.
Amazing shows with some amazing hair and makeup and a strong clear message regarding our future and our interaction with nature and the planet. It was a truly inspiring day followed by a truly inspiring evening, we could't ask for more than that, and slept well knowing we are in tune with our actions and reactions.
The next morning team NZ were bused out early for a day of education and inspiration from some of the best stylists in the world. Each showed a collection of looks which highlighted their colour and cutting skills using nature as their inspiration. The shows were live on stage using big screens to zoom in on the action so it was easy to follow the techniques and see in detail the cutting styles used.
Artist Steven Spazuk inspired the UK Allilon team to use fire as inspiration as he created a portrait. using a flame on board and smudging it simultaneously on stage while the hair team showed their skills.
Was great to see former winner of the Davines WWHT Candice McKay from South Africa who Eric spent a day with in Auckland last year at a colour workshop. He was truly inspired by her lustrous colour techniques and has used her tips to this day. Her show featured strong primary colours with sharp bobs and pixie cuts with strong fringes. All of the looks were extremely diverse, and it was easy to get knowledge to take away and use in the hair salon sharing with staff to inspire them to go another level with their clients.
To really feel part of the Davines community we got to meet complete Davines staff from 40 countries no less, in a cool video presentation followed by them all walking on stage & into the crowd. There were literally hundreds of them! What a lovely way to honour the Davines staff who work behind the scenes.
The afternoon showcased the Davines WWHT competition stylists who presented their work live on stage and were judged live by a panel from Davines worldwide creative team. If you succeed here it can really change a stylist’s career, with opportunities to be part of shows worldwide and gain global recognition for your work! This is big peeps!
The winning cut by Stephanie Scheve
The winning cut by Stephanie Scheve was an amazing powdery steel blonde with a grey/gold sharp box-cut fringe and longer back showing clean straight lines.
The colour winner Annie Ankervik was a based on the desert with a beautiful soft copper colour and tight braids on the scalp.
The winning colour by Annie Ankervik
Bravo to all competitors, they have gone a long way to get this far and show their work to so many stylists from around the world. It was another great but long day, then it was time to head back to the hotel to transform ourselves into expressions of nature, for the "Nature Party" that night - no pressure!
Team NZ put in a pretty good effort for the big night even though we were all exhausted by this stage! Floral suits, hair garlands and bright colours were out there as we made our way through town to the bus. In heels on cobblestones if you will!
The NZ Team ready for the nature party
On arriving I have not seen so many people at a dress up party, basically. It was mad fun! There were open bars everywhere and tables groaning with food for us all to graze on. It never ran out (either the drink or food) and later in the evening the dessert tables appeared - as if we needed that as well! Amazing!
There were dancers on stage and plenty of DJ action so we all got down and had a boogie and people watched, until our coach turned into a pumpkin at about 1am when it was time to head home and catch some zzzz. After saying goodbyes to our team, Eric and I were up early the next day to fly out of Milan and continue on the remainder of our trip.
Thank you Be for a wonderful experience and Ryland our tour guide with a handbag above his head at all times! Would have been lost without you! And thank you Davines for putting on the best WWHT ever! Their generosity and kindness was amazing as was the organisation of each and every event, it was faultless and abundant in every way.
I see why people follow these tours around the world as a source of inspiration, knowledge and fun. The next WWHT is in Iceland so that's somewhere I've not been before...