Meet Curate 2024 Winner: Byron Davey

Byron Davey has already crammed so much into his burgeoning career and his winning Urban Cut and Colour entry for the inaugural CURATE Awards is just the latest accolade. The edgy work he produced for the competition was created while working under the mentorship of Cobelle Creative’s Kristie Kesic and represented his passion for cutting precision and dedication to challenging the status quo.

During his apprenticeship at Cobelle Creative he was committed to growth, eagerly accepting every opportunity to assist Kristie and the team on numerous Finalist accoladed photographic collections. These included AHIA 2024 Colour Expert, AHFA 2023 Creative Colourist of the Year, AHFA 2023 QLD Hairdresser of the Year and AHIA 2023/2022 Colour Expert, and AHFA Artistic Team of the Year 2022. His styling skills have also been put to the test backstage as part of the Schwarzkopf Professional Styling Team at Brisbane Fashion Festival 2023.

Authenticity is key for this dynamic creative and consummate perfectionist. His love for the industry is driven by connection with people and the ability to have a skill that allows endless opportunities no matter where we all find ourselves in the world. Now this eternal traveller has found himself revelling in a new and dynamic Melbourne lifestyle at LNDN working as a Junior Stylist as he finalises his apprenticeship with BIBA.

Here we find out a little bit more about this exciting talent.

What has been your most transformative life experience that influenced your work?

I’d say my extensive travel. I think that seeing the world and different cultures and ways of being creative is so inspiring and I think being born in Johannesburg and my travels through Asia, North America and Europe, with two years living in Berlin, have made me a much more open and adaptable hairdresser. I’m still really inspired by change and new surroundings and I think it is so great for us to push ourselves in that way.

What do you think is the most important trait of a hairdresser and why?

To remain authentic to oneself, the work you choose to create and how you want to put that out into the world. We live in such an instant gratification realm, where trends rise and disappear so swiftly. It is easy to get caught up in trying to only reproduce what is happening in the current moment and lose sight of what truly excites us as creative individuals. I am so fascinated by the art of cutting and am really focused on refining my skills outside of just creating the latest look. I want to appreciate and understand all aspects of the artform as my creative energy evolves and grows.

What was a CURATE highlight?

All of the prizes were amazing but as someone who has worked really hard to refine my cutting technique and skill, it was great to work with the Excellent Edges team creating my bespoke scissor kit. It’s the special touches like this that can help you get to the next level with your confidence and your work.

What advice would you give to apprentices thinking about entering in 2025?

This is such a great opportunity and I think every apprentice should seriously consider entering. There are so few chances like this at the apprentice level, so my approach was to jump straight in with my entry and give it a go. I would suggest really sitting down and planning your video from start to finish and doing plenty of practice so you feel confident with your vision.