Global Zoom Brings THE Largest Beauty Show to Canada
By: Cheryl Gushue
The last two days have captured industry professionals from around the world to compete and cheer on the top finalists for the annual Goldwell Color Zoom Challenge. On September 30th and October 1st over 3,000 salon stylists gathered for the largest beauty show that Toronto has ever seen! Held in the giant space at the Enercare Centre, Goldwell created a multi-sensory experience with their brands.
On Sunday, September 30th there were 79 national finalists from 33 different countries to complete for a position in next year’s Global Color Zoom Creative Team. At the Color Zoom Challenge stylists participated in three different categories (Partner, Creative and New Talent) showing their creative interpretation of the current Goldwell Color Zoom Collection. The passion and creativity from these hard working stylists exuded in their total look creations. After a three hour live, nerve-wrecking competition surrounded by hundreds of cheering fans their models were presented to the international judges.
The excitement at the beginning of the gala show felt like we were at the hair industry Olympics with countries seated in sections waving flags and cheering at the top of their lungs!
The Gala was a spectacular production of visual graphics, dancers and the fashion show. Color Zoom Collection 2019 REMIX. It was a mix of bold colours, sharp contours and strong contrasts inspired by Pop art and graphic minimalism created by the Color Zoom Creative Team (Agnes Westerman, Sascha Haseloff and 2017 winners Mia Sota, Dylan Tung and Maksim Sotnikov).
The Color Zoom Hall of Fame award is dedicated to recognizing former winners that have used Color Zoom as a platform for advancing their career and helping others. Our very own Canadian, Rodica Hristu took home the award for her dedication and mentorship over the last decade.
The Stylists’ Favorite Awards went to Lieke Nijenkamp from Netherlands, Nushka Barbosa from Netherlands and Pedro Alvarez from Mexico. This award was an online platform for anyone in the world to choose their favorites from all the National Gold Winners.
The winners of this year’s Color Zoom Challenge are Nushka Barbosa from Netherlands for the New Talent category which are young, creative colorists with less than five years professional experience. Roos Topley from Netherlands in the Creative category for color creations done by stylists with more than five years experience. For the Partner category which is for creations designed by stylists who have already worked for Goldwell over two years, Lieke Nijenkamp also from Netherlands won for a country clean sweep!
On Sunday there was lots to be inspired by. The Master Design Team Jay Mahmood and Rodica Hristu showcased haircuts and colors from the stylist & colorist design programs. The KMS Style Council demonstrated on the audience how to use STYLECOLOR effects to enhance your hair color. The Pure Pigments Team showed us the color brilliance and vibrancy that can be used in the daily salon routine.
KAO Salon Division newest member – Oribe opened the gala with a cocktail party showing a live model presentation with 3,000 professionals mingling around the stage. This was the big announcement and launch of Oribe’s partnership with KAO.
To complete this whirlwind event on Monday the Artist Sessions took place on stage with the avant-garde styles from Mario Krankl and the globally renowned Mazella & Palmer team educating the crowd with their unique technical skills.
It was an experience for professionals around the world in every language to mingle, make new friends and be inspired!