2021 AHIA CREATIVE WINNERS
COME TOGETHER
With the debut of our Australian Hairdressing Industry Awards last year, our aim was to bring the very best of hairdressing together. From New Zealand to the UK and all the Australian states in between, the standard of work from across the world blew our minds.
And what a gallery of winners – from Sally Brooks in the UK, Danny Pato in New Zealand, and our very own Dee Parker Attwood as Australian Hairdresser of the Year. So, as we head into the 2022 event, what better way than to get three of our inspirational winners to interview each other!
DANNY: Sally, how do you see the industry evolving over the coming years?
SALLY: I think there are interesting times ahead in the coming
years, especially in the UK - with more hairdressers choosing the freelance route and less youngsters joining our industry we are in for an interesting ride. However, I feel that the passion for the craft will intensify; there will be some amazing creative collaborations and that the industry will reset in a new direction. Over the past few years, we have seen our industry thrive digitally that we can reach a worldwide audience and that we, as creatives, are closer than we have ever been. I feel we have to rethink the apprentice traditions and create an exciting world of learning for them to join the industry.
Sally Brooks
Dee Parker Attwood
DANNY: What’s been creatively inspiring you lately?
SALLY: I am a creative that follows my heart and my passion and what really inspires me now is a move to natural hair; feeling and movement, understated beauty, and the ability to cut and colour hair with a fresh feeling that is underworked and under styled. DANNY: What’s your favourite thing to do outside of hairdressing life?
SALLY: Do we have a life outside of hairdressing! I think my worlds combine - I am enjoying art directing projects at the moment, working on a slightly different aspect of the industry and art directing projects from beginning to end. When I do have free time, it is definitely to walk, walk my dogs and breathe some fresh air. I love to paint, and I love to do anything creative - I have always got something on the go!
SALLY: Big congratulations on all your achievements, how does it feel to be representing your country on the worldwide stage?
DANNY: Thank you, I feel very proud. It’s an honour to present our tiny country at the bottom of the world!
SALLY: Where do you get your inspiration from?
DANNY: Inspiration for me comes from anywhere, it really just depends
on a connection that happens – it could come from a building, a place of nature, a cultural movement a photograph – and blending different waves of inspiration together. For example, my last collection, Optic, the seed was planted when I was watching an old 60s new wave film. I started obsessing about the 60s – optical illusion art, fashion, architecture – and then started bringing things together and adding my own twist.
SALLY: You have a real hair style, where did that come from?
DANNY: For me, telling a story through my collection work, that’s what Danny Pato
