Sassoon celebrate style tribes at salon international 2011
Published
16th Oct 2011
by rachael
Sassoon Academy presented the culmination of their trio of Academy collections with the launch of Tribe III at Salon International 2011.
Celebrating an eclectic array of style tribes, looks ranged from playful to provocative - all with Sassoon's trademark technical precision.
"Tribe has been an incredible journey of creativity," said international creative director Mark Hayes reflecting on the two previous collections. "It's provided us all with a really broad spectrum of inspiration."
After a look back at highlights of Tribe I and II, including the popular Young Fogey collection with its celebration of English Eccentricity, it was time to introduce the latest additions.
Inspired by fashion's ongoing fascination with fetishism, Bound combined strong powerful shapes and hard-edged lines with models in leather and lace sporting seductive shades and 'straps' of colour imitating fastenings on bondage gear.
Offering something more subtle, Fable featured innocent, soft shapes with subtle nacreous shades. Mark explained that in a world of over-mechanised industrialisation, they were inspired to move back to something more natural and whimsical.
The fun final looks, Quest, were introduced to a laidback 90s hip-hop soundtrack including Arrested Development and - cleverly - A Tribe Called Quest. Featuring free, urban-inspired shapes, bobs were worn wide and soft, while texture was celebrated with springy curls and natural Afro shapes.
The audience was also treated to a look at the latest salon collection, Minimum. Focussing on "hair design with no distraction", this clean-cut series of looks embraced the purity of the Sassoon technique with colours and shapes reduced to the absolute essentials.
Vivid accents of orange, hot pink, lilac and blue contrasted against pure white and absolute black on dramatic sweeping curved shapes and head-hugging cuts, while softer looks combined loose hair with strong techniques for what Mark described as, "a repertoire of spareness and stripped-back excellence."
Explaining where he gets his inspiration for such a vast and varied series of collections, Mark explained:
"We are constantly on the search for new ways to express our skills. The team are a constant source of inspiration and we're also inspired by streetstyle, fashion and music. We tried to make each them as different as possible - some have vintage reference points, some are very modern. It's a cornucopia of fashion looks and it's been tremendously enriching from a creative point of view to research so many themes."
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