HairCon 2025? We’re Mad For It!
HairCon 2025? We’re Mad For It!
From breathtaking shows to business advice, brand experiences and new innovations, the return of the industry’s most disruptive event thrilled thousands
by AMANDA | INFORM
It was BUSY! It was BUZZY! It was FUN! It was INTERESTING! It was CREATIVE! HairCon 2025, held June 22 and 23 at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, was everything you could want from a hair and barbering show – and so much more. Two full days of incredible shows, brilliant hair talents, exciting brands, progressive discussions, cool collaborations, business mastery and innovative new ideas, transforming at night into a high-energy creative hub featuring cutting-edge new names on the DJ and music scene… Oh, yes. HairCon brought the industry together like never before. These were our best bits…
The VIP Opening Party
Talk about getting off to a flying start! This invite-only event took hair to the next level, thanks to a line-up of legends including Errol Douglas MBE x InnerSense, James Earnshaw with Wella Professionals and Josh Lamonaca and Menspire with Dense, each serving up their own unique take on silhouette, texture, colour and style. HairCon also hosted the International Hair Awards for the very first time, with the ultimate trophy, International Hairdresser of the Year, going to the multi-talented Quantum Hair’s Jorge X from Spain – a popular choice.
Modern Cowboy
Fifteen models, multiple hair changes, one pole dancer and hundreds of jaws on the floor… ‘Rodeo’, the first collaboration between Trevor Sorbie and Keune, was not only a carefully curated and hugely entertaining exploration of the spirit and culture of rodeo, it was arguably one of the best hair shows of all time, a brilliant edit of intelligently referenced hair looks (from pomp and pomades to exaggerated Afros), high-rolling dance routines, incredible clothes styling and iconic music tracks (Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ brought the house down).
Creative director Giuseppe Stelitano ensured his cowboys and cowgirls were authentic, not dress-up, referencing the Old West’s Black and Native American heritage and mixing in modern fashion and urban tones. “I wanted to make the man himself proud by doing an old-style Trevor Sorbie show,” he said. As Trevor’s final onstage appearance took place at HairCon 2024, it was a major moment to see that iconic baton well and truly passed on.
Outside temperatures soared to 32C but these incredible talents kept their cool as they prepared the looks for their shows.
The following day, the Trevor Sorbie team delivered a Rodeo Masterclass, breaking down the looks and showing how to interpret them into commercial, salon-ready styles.
The Cool Collaborations
We loved the ‘creative jamming’ that took place onstage at HairCon – whether that was a seamless blending of artist and brand or a total mash-up of technique and style. Business guru Sophia Hilton returned to her artistic roots in a collaboration with Lily Champ and Oli Tracey from the Crazy Color Pro Team to present ‘Anarchy In The Hair’, an ode to punk in beautiful shades of sapphire blue, cyclamen pink and egg-yolk yellow (among others). Meanwhile, the worlds of Errol Douglas MBE and Lydia Wolfe of Jack & The Wolfe collided in a one-off live presentation where both artists pushed each other to new heights of creativity – Errol displaying his contemporary mastery of haute coiffure, Lydia showing her fearless edge in colour and styling. Craftsmanship ruled in a segment by the Sebastian Professional Squad, a welcome return to the stage by this iconic brand.
Lisa Farrall x Lesley Jennison got political with their hair-show-as-protest The Dolls, while Zoë Irwin and her Project Colour mentees wowed with a brilliant take on the iconic New York ballroom scene fused with inspiration from the documentary ‘Advanced Style’. Vagaro brought together an all-star line up for their Textured in Motion show – think Junior Green, Rianna Henry, Stephen Debellotte, to name just a few). Lisa returned to the stage later with Creative HEAD editorial director, Amanda Nottage, to talk session styling with Frazer Wallace, Anna Chapman and Jonathan Francesco, while the incredible Karoliina Saunders styled up a look she created for sustainable design duo Vin+Omi from London Fashion Week. Spine-tingling!
The Fellowship
Oh, Fellowship for British Hairdressing, how much do we love thee? This wonderful organisation, which offers guidance, mentorship and career-boosting opportunities to hairdressers at all stages of their careers, is a vital part of the HairCon experience, platforming literally hundreds of hair artists (and giving many of them their first onstage break) in back-to-back shows that ran from 10am to 6pm each day. We were impressed by the highly stylised looks presented by Project X, under the leadership of Marlon Hawkins from Brooks+Brooks and the angelic styling at The Fellowship’s first regional project showcase, Ethereal, delivered by Project Scotland.
The Men!
It was raining men at HairCon 2025, with models flooding the main stage showcasing the latest in male grooming from barbering icons Simon Shaw and the Wahl team, Josh Lamonaca and MHFed, among others. Meanwhile, the exhibition floor was stacked with exciting brands, from cutting-edge tools and styling innovations to next-level education, and we listened in on a fascinating panel discussion about tackling hair loss led by Robert Eaton and spotted leading barber magazine BarberEvo engaging industry leads in live interviews.
The Fun And Games
“HairCon isn’t just an event. It’s a full-on revolution for the hair and barbering industry,” announced co-founder Nancy Baughen of The Assembly Events. And she was right. HairCon has re-set the bar in what we can expect from a trade show, with an incredible energy and upbeat mood that was truly inspiring. Exhibiting brands played a major role in this, coming up with some brilliant creative ways to engage the crowds. ‘Spin to Win’ at Keune, free Collagen Coffees at GLOWWA, hoop-la at Olivia Garden and even paint-filled balloon-bursting at Phantom Towels all attracted huge queues.
The Hustle. The Bustle
You want knowledge? HairCon gave you knowledge. Everywhere you went in the show, you could see new products in action, learn new techniques or gain valuable business knowledge. For example courtesy of the Social Stage in partnership with Fresha (Creative HEAD was there to share the impact of a Most Wanted and It List trophy win with previous winners Naomi Brooks, D’Arcy White and Robert Eaton!), specialist coaching club Kin Connect on the Keune stand or via practical demos on the super-slick Vagaro stand.
And All This Action!
HairCon delivered non-stop onstage action from leading hair artists across the world. Whether you wanted inspo in colour, texture, Afro, extensions, barbering, avant-garde or cutting, it was there galore on the free-to-access Main Stage. Here’s just a snippet of what we saw!
