Creative HEAD UK January 2018

2017
THE END
OF THE
YEAR
SHOW
WELCOME TO OUR REVIEW OF THE YEAR – WE’VE CONDENSED
ALL THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTION OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS
INTO BITE-SIZED SECTIONS SO THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR
FIX OF THE TRENDS, BRANDS, PEOPLE, PRODUCTS AND
MOMENTS THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE IN 2017
HEY, BIG SPENDERS!
BIG BUSINESS MAKES MOVES
Coty Inc, which in 2016 bought Wella
Professionals and 42 of P&G’s other hair,
perfume and make-up businesses for
$12.5bn (£9.7bn), doubled down with a
£420m takeover of ghd, cementing its
newfound presence in hair.
Meanwhile Henkel acquired
Shiseido’s North American
professional hair care
business – adding brands
such as Joico and Zotos
Professional to its portfolio.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
SOPHIA HILTON – NOT ANOTHER SALON
When she went to get her hair done in West
London she didn’t feel posh enough, and when
she went to the East End she didn’t feel cool
enough. So, at the age of 27, Sophia Hilton
launched Not Another Salon on London’s Brick
Lane, complete with Wagon Wheels, GameBoys
and a ‘no judgement’ policy designed to take
the fear out of going to the salon.
What happened next was remarkable.
Sophia’s Hidden Rainbow hair became an
internet sensation, a 55-second video about
the salon team went viral on Facebook, 184,000
Instagram followers have signed up to see
more of Not Another Salon’s high-end bleeds,
and there was a three-month waiting list for
an appointment. This year Sophia led the
charge on a “colour pandemic”, articulating
a growing malaise among colourists that
retouched images on Instagram create
unrealistic expectations about what’s possible
in a normal salon appointment. “Not only am
I coming up against those challenges in the
salon, but all over the world as I run a colour
academy across six countries,” she
says. “Everywhere I see the same
issues: hairdressers struggling to
keep their heads above water.”
By speaking out, Sophia
hopes more colourists will
feel empowered to raise their
voices on the subject, too.
“I’d like to see more salons
educating their clients as
often as possible across
social media,” she
says. “I believe we
have the power
to create enough
content to change
this and teach
clients about the
realities of what
is going on.”
Take that,
world!
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