Nearly 2,000 stylists and salon owners joined Aveda for its Mid-America Show in Cincinnati this fall.
Elite stylists from the Aveda Creative Team and Aveda guest artists took the stage at the company’s Mid-America Show with a mission: to celebrate the world of hairdressing with new techniques while being environmentally responsible.
Aveda Tribe Elder Shivnath Tandon opened the show with words of wisdom. “You have the magic to transform people’s lives,” he said. “You are the artist, the creator, the magician at-hand. We must live in the future.”
President of Aveda Canada Ray Civello was the first to present his collection onstage, titled Sustainable Human. The collection included oversized floral-inspired headdresses, one of which was constructed by hand-rolling single pieces of paper into spikes. Aveda Guest Artist Jon Reyman’s demonstration focused on texture, length and density, and aimed to inspire stylists and deliver information they could bring back to salons. Global Artistic Director of Hair Color Ian Michael Black shared how to diffuse soft color with a checkerboard technique, and tipped off the audience that Aveda will soon launch a new blonde toner color product that makes for an easy add-on service. Tippi Shorter, Aveda global artistic director of textured hair, wowed the crowd with a recyclable cotton yarn weave and brushed-out curls.
Also in attendance was Vice President of Research and Development Pat Peterson Werre, who gave insight on what the 73 Aveda researchers do in their labs every day, and where Aveda sources its ingredients. “We like to call ourselves activists because we care for the world with the products we make,” Werre said. Much of Aveda’s success and progress over the years is owed to founder Horst Rechelbacher, who was given a meaningful tribute. “What I learned about beauty, passion and integrity at a very early age was quite incredible from quite an incredible man,” said David Wagner, owner of Minneapolis Aveda Concept Salon Juut Salonspa.
In addition to inspiring presentations, Aveda announced that for the first time the Aveda Curriculum will be available to all salon owners. The digital platform will focus on safe body movements behind the chair, 15 building-block cutting methods and 10 technique videos, and will give each student a 360-degree view of basic cuts that they might not have learned properly in a classroom setting. To find out more about the curriculum, visit learnaveda.com. ✂ —Desiree Cole