A Mecca of Colour & Styling – Willomina

Proudly owned by Chris and Kass Hunter, Willomina is based in the heart of Woollahra Village and is a specialist in both women’s and men’s styling, and a mecca for influencers and media. The salon, with its beautifully raw industrial aesthetic, will now offer Goldwell Color and the KMS Styling range to its discerning clientele.

Chris and his talented team are known for their expertise in colour and are renowned for bringing fashion trends to life. Aligning with Goldwell brings this creativity to a new level, opening up a new world of color opportunities – from Goldwell’s core Topchic and Colorance lines through to the patented technology of Goldwell’s color morphing, direct dye additives in @Pure Pigments.

“When we decided to look at all the color brands on the market and what would suit WILLOMINA the best, Goldwell and KMS was a cut above the rest. The pure quality of the Goldwell color range was more than enough to convince us to become a salon partner, but it just so happened we were aligning with KMS too. We have a very strong cutting and styling ethos at WILLOMINA and needed a range of products that would really highlight that.”

“The Kao Australia team are also a bunch of legends. Working with a big brand can sometimes be daunting, but they really treat you like an individual Salon, not just another account,” said Chris Hunter, Owner of Willomina.

Always creating and pushing the industry forward, Chris has also launched a side hustle called CoMMMunity Events, which is an ongoing calendar of educational sessions for Hair Stylists designed to stretch and challenge creativity, featuring masterclasses from leading stylists from around the country.

Editor Louise May recently caught up with owner Chris Hunter, to find out a little more about Willomina.

Chris Hunter

Willomina has a fantastic reputation and strong influencer/media following. What’s your secret?

Keep it real. There is so much noise in the hair and beauty market driven by the internet and social media, hairdressers are forgetting about the major task at hand - their clients. Without a strong loyal Clientele there would be no influencers or media following.

Where did the name Willomina come from?

Wilhelmina Curzon was Chris’s great Granny; she was a hoot of a woman and would have loved having a salon named after her. We had to slightly alter the spelling for SEO purposes and came up with WILLOMINA.

Who is the Willomina client?

In short - ANYONE. Team WILLOMINA is so well versed in all areas of hairdressing. We have specialists in Dry Cutting Curly Hair, lived-in colour, precise bobs, men’s hair, scalp lightning, long layers.

You recently moved your Woollahra Salon. What were you looking for in the new space?

WILLOMINA was born in the back streets on Surry Hills in 2017. It wasn’t long before it gained a cult following and we needed a bigger space. Queen St WOOLLAHRA is such a beautiful place and was the perfect spot to open WILLOMINA 2.0. My wife Kassy designed the new salon. We were given the most gorgeous, exposed brick walls and black framed windows and doors. She continued that theme throughout, whilst adding soft pastels, woods, and nature to soften with a few personal touches. I must make a mention of Bryan Wareham our landlord, he has been such a dream to work with throughout the past year in challenging circumstances.

Willomina has just become a Goldwell Salon Partner, bringing on board the Goldwell Color portfolio & and also the KMS range. What motivated you bring these brands to your salon?

When we decided to look at all the color brands on the market and what would suit WILLOMINA the best, Goldwell and KMS was a cut above the rest. The pure quality of the Goldwell color range was more than enough to convince us to become a salon partner, but it just so happened we were aligning with KMS too. We have a very strong cutting and styling ethos at WILLOMINA and needed a range of products that would really highlight that. The Kao Australia team are also a bunch of legends. Working with a big brand can sometimes be daunting, but they really treat you like an individual Salon, not just another account.

So why Goldwell Color? And what are your favourite Goldwell Color products so far, and why?

Goldwell color does everything we need it to, in an amazing way. SilkLift is the best lighter on the market, Topchic has got all the shades we need to achieve perfect grey coverage & Colorance checks all the boxes for our toners and semi-permeant colours. My favourite product so far is the @Pure Pigments. These are customisable color drops we can put into our tints and semis to make our clients’ colours even more personalised.

What is CoMMMunity Events?

CoMMMunity events was set up so we can offer our team more opportunities and education in a different kind of way. It’s an ego free collaboration with different hair artists and salons from all over Australia. CoMMMunity 1 was held at WILLOMINA and went off featuring 4 of Sydney’s top hairstylists. We were due to host “Bob’s Ya Uncle” - a soiree on colouring and cutting short hair before Sydney went into lockdown - featuring 6 Hairstylists cutting hair at a run-down warehouse in Alexandria. Think Music Booze Good Times and Hair Education.

Colouring or Styling, what’s your preference?

I love cutting and styling, as an apprentice I always found it a lot easier than colouring

What keeps you creative? And in turn, how do you keep your team creative?

Were in such a fortunate position at WILLOMINA, having a team of 15 incredibly talented hairdressers you don’t need to look any further than the chair next you to be inspired and to see something new. I don’t want to harp on about Instagram too much, but I love watching Adrian Panayiotis @mr_d_hair cut hair outside in Melbourne.

Who in the industry (or outside of it!) inspires you?

Alana Dunphy pushes me into new areas of hairdressing every day. She is such an incredible hairdresser with an eye for hair I have never seen before. I’m also passionate about old motorcycles and Agave Spirits, think Mezcal/Tequila get on it.

What’s on the Willomina playlist?

Early 90s Bangers

What’s your favourite thing about the hair industry?

I love everything about what we do. I genuinely really enjoy making people feel good about themselves and working with an amazing team

What do you think the future of hairdressing in Australia looks like?

This is a really interesting question. With the rise of dedicated freelance salons all of a sudden, it put business owners on notice. Not to mention Instagram hairdressers, who run their business through a photo sharing app. I know one thing for sure, gone are the days of greedy businesses overworking their staff. I’m also a big believer in a 38-hour work week spread over 4 days for any hairdressers working on the floor. It keeps energy levels high and improves team morale.

What next for Willomina? What are your plans for the future?

WILLOMINA WOOLLAHRA is still so new, we’re striving to make it run as perfectly as it possibly can, remember keep it real and eyes one the prize. Once we have achieved perfection then we can really talk about what’s next.

Can you share any favourite Goldwell & KMS products?

@Pure Pigments are the future of hair color. KMS HairPlay Sea Salt Spray - this reminds me of an old school sea salt spray, great for prepping up-styles, blow-dries and foundations of men’s hair styling.