THE 2024 CURATE WINNERS

CELEBRATE A ONCE IN A LIFETIME VIP PRIZE EXPERIENCE IN SYDNEY!

The winners of the 2024 CURATE Awards have experienced a unique opportunity to become an active part of the hair industry outside of their salon apprenticeships.

As part of their winner prize package, Tori Yardley, Maiya Rice and Byron Davey enjoyed a jam-packed VIP experience in Sydney with a creative hair shoot, visit to Hair Festival and attendance at the AHIA Creative gala. Fourth CURATE Awards winner, Morgan Humphries was overseas and sadly missed, but with the team in spirit.

Envisioned by Brisbane hairdressing icon and AHIA Creative Australian Hairdresser of the Year 2023 Justin Pace, the CURATE Awards platform gives our most exciting talent the chance to excel on both the national and international stage with access to global judges and exciting social media reach.

The key focus of the prize experience was the creative shoot day under the mentorship of Justin alongside Photographer and GM of Mocha Group, Jarred Stedman, MAGAP Australian Makeup Artist of the Year 2023, Chereine Waddell, and Director of Lily Blue Communications, Jo Coles, on-site at L’Oréal Academy.

The day kicked off with a congratulations video from Kitomba Salon and Spa Software followed by a mentor session with Justin, Jarred and Jo before hands-on hair prep began for the full-day shoot using tools and products supplied by Gamma+ , Excellent Edges and L’Oréal PPD, with Sustainable Salons bins at the ready.

On the Monday, the team were then special guests at the Excellent Edges stand at Hair Festival where they collected their personalised scissor kits which had been prescribed over a Zoom session by the master Pete Walstab. They were also given a money-can’t-buy opportunity to spend a couple of hours one-on-one with Pete and Jules Tognini, being shown how to use their incredible new kits.

As passionate Gen-X talents, they are all heavily invested in the importance of industry sustainability so were thrilled to meet CoFounder Paul Frasca at the Sustainable Salons stand and speak with the rest of the team to learn about their latest eco-initiatives.

With growth and development a priority in the CURATE Awards program, the team were also invited to head along to a number of Educational Sessions at Hair Festival, namely L’Oréal Pro Connect ‘Multi-Million Dollar Moves’, ‘Mane Masters’ and ‘Open Mic’.

Finally, the CURATE Winners enjoyed the hair industry’s night of nights in style, at the AHIA Creative gala event. Not only were they able to meet and network with the biggest names from around the county but they also received a special mention on screen, as did Supporters, Finalists and Judges.

What’s next? Stand by for the finished collection images which will be published in HairBiz and also distributed globally, giving them the opportunity to be seen by creatives all around the world.

CURATE Awards gives thanks to Major Partner L’Oréal Access, Media Partner Mocha Group, Sustainability Partner Sustainable Salons Australia as well as Proud Supporters Excellent Edges, Australian Hairdressing Council, Kitomba Salon and Spa Software and Gamma+ for the phenomenal success of the inaugural year. Be sure to keep eyes peeled for the launch of CURATE Awards 2025 which will be announced soon.