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Avant Garde NAHA Winner Darian Bishop

The industry as a whole is about representing the area we live in. While the British Awards always get a huge amount of press, we American hairstylists are growing stronger and stronger every year. We definitely want to inspire American hairstylists to have a stronger foundation and invest in their education and constantly upgrade our industry. Hairdressing is so much more than just working in a beauty shop so these awards should inspire us American hairdressers to band together and upgrade ourselves. America needs some hairdressing industry icons to look up to and that is what´s great about these awards.

I thought the third time, last year, was going to be the charm but I was not correct! Winning this award finally was a really huge challenge I set out to myself. I just had to stick to what I really feel is most beautiful and I kept going stronger and stronger — because that´s the flavor of the entries every year. The competition is FIERCE!

I´ve worked for Toni & Guy for 13 years and we have photographic competitions within the company which I´ve been entering since the beginning, but to reach beyond that, out to the industry, was a really great achievement… not only for myself but for my company, too.

My inspiration comes from everywhere — but mostly from nature, like you said. My shapes this year were really organic. The braids remind me of a coral structure and the fan one reminds of that crazy lizard with the neck frill or a bird that displays his feathers all around him like that. I use the shapes I see around me and try to create them out of hair! But it´s not so easy — The braids took about 20 hours worth of work and finger cramps. Once, back in 1995, I went  back in history for my inspiration and I created all my hair shapes based on Elizabethan collar designs. The Avant Garde category is my favorite thing to do — it´s total art. now that I´ve finally won that category, I´ll move beyond it…I can cut a mean head of hair!

Most of these styles are not created from the real model´s hair. In fact, the one with teased hair only had an inch of hair all the way around her head! For the fan style, I built the shape out of cardboard and formed the hair piece on cardboard. I used layer upon layer of Bead Head Hard Head Hold Hairspray: spraying and blow-drying until it was solid. Then when I pulled the cardboard away, it stood up straight on its own! Fantasy hair is what I lOvE to do and I love the element of surprise as the observer wonders whether that´s her real hair or not! It looks like it could be, but you´re just not sure…

last year was all about color for me. My pieces were all inspired by autumn leaves and sunsets — I wanted strong colors and again used organic forms. I built some really amazing feather and leaf shapes. But I didn´t win last year — maybe they were too loud with  the colorful backgrounds as well? This year, I kept it soft and subdued and in the interest of simplification I decided to go without the stylist to keep the focus on the hair. I was apprehensive about this choice, because this competition is also about the whole picture, beyond the hair, because it´s a photographic competition. But I guess being different than the other entries this year really paid off for me!

It´s like night and day! On daily basis, I focus on educating hairdressers and upgrading the talent in our industry. I teach everything from foundation work to a class about the latest collections. But, funny you should ask the question, because I recently tried to teach an Avant Garde class and it was so successful that we´ve added it to the schedule twice per year in the Advanced Academy. And it´s tricky because there are elements you can teach and elements that are innate and creative. It was so much fun to experiment with the students. We used hair pieces and learned about the key elements and tools that we use to create them. you can teach structure, texture and let them create their own shape. I love to take my art and creativity and mix it with what I do on a daily basis. Avant Garde creations are obviously for the hairdresser, but everything you use stems from the skills you use in the salon. up-dos are the strongest foundations. Anyone can practice smoothing, pinning, finishing and learning to control the hair and how hair moves — it´s all very important. Some people choose to take it to the next level and some stylists are never comfortable taking their finishing skills to the next level. Aside from that, up-dos are just money you´re not earning — clients will pay a lot of money for bridal and special event styling  and fashion and wedding shows can expand your local client base and make a name for you.

Many of my students in the Advanced Academy ask that question: How do we break in to photography? A lot of the time it seems overwhelming, too expensive or that you don´t have all the elements together…or maybe you don´t even know what all the elements are! Start small to get your feet wet. Find someone new to photography, at a local design school as well as aspiring models and makeup artists and test out your skills, each of you bartering your skills for trade. Practice your signature skills and styles until they are perfect. Take pictures of everything you do. Participate in local competitions and keep learning as you go. But to really win a bigger competition you need to work with professional photographers, models, makeup artists and stylists. Remember, you get what you pay for… and you have to go for that quality when you´re creating a collection for editorial use or a contest entry.

don´t think a photo shoot comes out great the first time around — my first time was a mess! What I learned from that experience, my first entry into the Toni & Guy Awards, was that I used friends and not models. The finished result depends on a beautiful face so you have to use a quality model who knows how to show off your work in its best light — that  was my first lesson! I was pretty young the first time I did a photo shoot. I bet if I looked at those photos now I´d have to laugh at myself! But that´s how you learn. you have to start somewhere.

I´ve been really surprised at how much it´s affecting everything and everybody — but when I look at the numbers for enrollment each month at our academies they´re holding steady and not declining. That can only mean one thing: Hairdressers understand that education is most important now, that they´ve got to have really great basics, so they´re going to invest in the beginning and training for their career. We train people how to be a successful hairdresser, not just to pass the state board. It used to be that hairdressing was looked at as something you do until you´re done with college. But now people are realizing that learning a skilled trade can get them working sooner than a 4-year or more college degree, so we have that boost, too, as a result of the economic situation. If you have the gift for hairdressing then you have to be one — I can´t imagine what I would do if I couldn´t be a hairdresser! What the younger generation has to learn is that being a successful hairdresser, and especially salon owner, goes way beyond any instant gratification expectations. you really have to work hard for your clients, focus on customer service plus go out and market yourself!

The most important thing is to never lose your foundation — It is so important to have that solid ground to rely on — once you´ve learned your basics, you can create everything else. never forget to come back to your foundation. your salon gets busy, your schedule gets rushed and you might create shortcuts in your cutting and styling…but things can get sloppy when you lose your foundation and shortcuts and hurrying can result in messy cutting and styling. So always check yourself and remember your foundation!

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