More than 3,000 beauty aficionados and international teams representing 53 countries converged on London last fall when Wella hosted International Trend Vision 05. The third annual event was held at the ExCel International Exhibition Center prior to the start of Salon International.
In addition to presentations and workshops by top talent, including the Doves and Richard Jordan of the Netherlands, which showcased this year's mega-trends of Techno Nature, Real Daydream, World Fusion and Gothic Luxury, the program also featured a competition where 53 up-and-coming hairdressers and their teams vied for the title of Best Newcomer. Each artist put their talents to the test, creating a total look that depicted one of the four trends for 2005—Being Naïve, Being Rebellious, Being In Love and Being Constructive—while shining a spotlight on his or her technical abilities. Japan's Masahiro Arimura, France's Cyril Brune, Brazil's Celso Kamura, Lebanon's Salam Morkos and Germany's Dirk Savelsberg judged the efforts, selecting the top three winners.
 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Beverly C's lovely Real Daydream trend; Team USA model Irina Pala proudly waves the American flag; Mahogany presented the Gothic Luxury trend; models from the Doves' World Fusion presentation got rave reviews. |
When all was said and done, Severine Fluhr of On the Hair Artistic Team from Switzerland took home the gold medal for her interpretation of Being Constructive. Sirichang Peantong of Salon Hair Care from Thailand was awarded the bronze medal for her interpretation of Being Rebellious. And Heather "Millie" Malone of Bella Capelli Salon in Roswell, GA, took home the silver medal after crafting a fashion-forward Being Constructive look featuring asymmetrical layers of black and red and angular bangs.
 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Millie Malone preps her model for the competition; silver medal winner Malone of Bella Capelli Salon and her team were all smiles; the award-winning stylists and their teams strike a pose. |
"The Trend Vision competitions have been an amazingly rewarding and inspiring experience for me as an artist," said Malone. "I feel honored to have competed against an impressive group of international artists with exceptional talent and incredibly creative visions."