SPOTLIGHT ON EOIN MCCARTHY
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATOR & BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR ANDIS
When Irish eyes are smiling Eoin McCarthy is a 27 year old Hair Stylist from Cork, Ireland who is a relative newcomer to the industry after a career as a professional cyclist in Europe. When retiring from pro cycling Eoin took interest in the world of hair inspired by his mother Mairead who is a very successful hairdresser. Although influenced by hairdressing, Eoin focused fully on men’s hair and in his first year cutting he was awarded the title of 2016 Irish Barbering Apprentice of the Year. After 1 year of working in Ireland, Eoin set his sights on Australia and found himself a job at Area Studio. Eoin then had an opportunity to expand his skill set and find his unique style of men’s haircutting in a multitalented international team of stylists at Area Studio. Within his time in Australia he has picked up many more awards including the Victorian Barber of the Year for 2017 after placing 1st in the Victorian/SA Live Barber Battle. He placed two times second place at the 2017 HBIA Australian Hairdressing Championships in the Men’s Trend and Men’s Sport live cutting competitions and contributed to Area Studio winning the HBIA Independent Salon of the Year for both 2017 and 2018, and was most recently Runner-Up in the 2019 HBIA Men’s Trend Competition. Almost 5 years into his career Eoin is now an International Educator and Brand Ambassador for Andis Clippers and Brand Ambassador for Osaka Scissors in Australia. 14 Barber Shop Year 10 Issue 2
Eoin actively educates and demonstrates at many hair exhibitions in Australia and Worldwide such as the Asian Hair Expo (China) 2018 as well as having been a part of Hair Expo Australia’s Education Programme presenting his ‘Perspective’ seminar helping thousands of other hair professionals to learn and grow. Eoin has worked with many celebrity clients such as music artists such as Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan and Denzel Curry as well as many Australian sporting stars. Most notably cutting hair at Justin Bieber’s Purpose World Tour, The Weekend’s Starboy World Tour and Post Malone’s World Tour. In 2020, Eoin has had his introduction into the editorial side of the industry by creating his first collection ‘Unity in Diversity’, which featured in internationally renowned magazine Estetica as well as multiple magazines in The Netherlands and the UK. In 2020 Eoin was also nominated as Finalist for the International Visionary Awards, World Barber of the Year, Irish Best of the Best and AHFA Industry Choice Awards. 2020 saw the creation of AREA Academy in which Eoin is Director and Co-owner. This was a long-term ambition of Eoin’s and being so passionate about having a positive influence on the industry, we spoke to him about his role with Andis as well as his career in general and what the future holds.
