On Monday May 10 piiq and Richard Kavanagh combined the physical with the digital for a night that showcased the power of hair art at Sydney’s chic and minimal Sarah Cottier Gallery in Paddington, writes Cameron Pine.
With an audience of more than 400 watching live from three countries and 35 guests on-site, the Magic Monday hair education event brought to the fore the importance of transformation in the salon industry and reinforced our role as creative individuals to continue to push the boundaries of inspiration.
“Welcome friends, family, partners and thank you to all of you for being here for the semi-official, semi relaunch of piiq post-COVID hibernation, re-awakening with Magic Monday,” said piiq founder Richard Kavanagh.
The night highlighted key elements of the piiq digital mirror, which has been designed to better connect stylists with consumers, by not only enhancing the experience on both sides, but also by enabling greater levels of transformation.
Guests can try individual looks prior to actually starting this evolution and have an overall better understanding of the process. The piiq mirror can even spark in-salon and guest conversation and gauge personal style and lifestyle – from picking the client’s dream holiday destination to assessing how often they blow dry their hair.
Fusing with this innovation ethos, for this inaugural Magic Monday education evening it was all about creativity and bringing together some leading artists to share some of their insider tips.
“I took this night as the opportunity to give our artists a platform to be in front of a live audience. We often say ‘hair isn’t art’ and by holding the event in the gallery precinct, in an art gallery, that was highlighted,” Richard said.
“As well as celebrating the art that drives us, we also wanted to welcome piiq back from its COVID hibernation and show the next features – express MDX with retail recommendations and in-app purchasing,’ Richard said.
Over 90 minutes the audience saw into the worlds and minds of five leading artists – Kobi Bokshish, Phil Barwick, Jake Williams, Tiffany Deceaux and Kristina Russell.
Each gave an insight into their own journey of transformation, with Jake using Showpony Hair Extensions to dramatically transform his model, with a completely undetectable approach. Tiffany took hundreds of ideas behind crystallisation and how to morph that into a hair concept using ‘epsom salts’, while Kobi did a dramatically transformative precision haircut. Kristina shared important colour tips on Phil Barwicks’s model that had an edgy razor style cut – seamlessly merging colour, cut and style in this inspirational editorial setting.
For many, it was a great way to get back in touch with some of our industry heroes and celebrate those of us who continue to take chances, make an effort and express ourselves and our creativity through difficult times.
This was definitely a piiq of the week!
For more information visit www.piiqdigital.com
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