Trevor sorbie team share their inspirations at salon international

Trevor Sorbie and his artistic team shared the inspirations in an inspiring, educational and emotional show at Salon International. Taking to the Salon Live stage for the first time in 11 years, Trevor started the show with a look back at his extensive show history – starting with his first Salon International in 1974 and taking in every corner of the globe since. He retired from live show work in 2005, but was enticed out of retirement for this special show, which explored the inspirations behind him and his creative team's work. "We don't want to show you techniques," he said. "We want you to understand how we get inspired, so that you can take those approaches and use them yourself to create more of the work you love." Joining Trevor on stage for the first show was his newest protege, Tom Connell. Tom joins an illustrious lineup including Eugene Souleiman and Angelo Seminara, both of whom started their careers under Trevor's watchful eye. He created a striking cut which combined an Audrey Hepburn-inspired fringe with longer length in the back. His basis for the cut was a woman he saw on his commute, who had covered her hair with a scarf to protect it from the rain. He wanted to emulate the draping of the scarf with the peekaboo hint of fringe; something which he achieved through his elegant cut. Trevor himself cut a layered crop, razored through the back with longer layers through the front. "Hairdressing can be boring," he said. "Thats why I started doing creative work. I didn't want to be bored. I wanted to love what I do, so I started to get more creative – and that's when I fell back in love with hair. That's what I want for you, too – to go to work tomorrow and feel excited to be there and create." Next on stage was Mai Ha, who brought her trademark avant-garde techniques to life on stage with a style created out of tracing paper triangles, which she layered all over the hair and enhanced further with random pen marks. Her look was inspired by the 2009 Iris Van Herpen couture collection and her use of unusual fabrics and diverse textures. "It's a lot of work," she said, "but once you find something you love like these techniques, it's not hard. I'm in my element doing this." Then it was time for colour, with international technical director Nathan Walker and Zak Twohig. Nathan's inspiration came from a team meeting, when he stepped in front of a video projector and became fascinated with how the screen projected on to his clothing. Projecting a venn diagram of cyan, magenta and yellow on to his model's hair, he painted on colour to match. For Zak, it was neon strip lighting in a Saturday's video which inspired. He created his own strip light and used it to shine on the hair, painting on colour in a literal shine line. More diverse inspirations were brought to life in the next cutting section, with Ryan Forsyth creating a tapered razor cur inspired by the unusual strip of fur on the back of a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog. For James, it was David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust mullet which served as a starting point. While Bowie may be a classic reference, James have the look his own stamp by razoring the cut with a flattopper comb and pairing it with fingerwaves. There was more colour from John and international education director Tiziana, who wowed the audience with more technical dexterity. John created the effect of stitching in the hair with special pens which he found in art shop. Sold without any ink, he came up with the concept of filling them with hair colour and drawing directly on the hair. With each weft taking up to two hours to complete, it's a time-consuming but stunning look. Tiziana took her cue from Jackson Pollock's famous splatter paintings, throwing colour at the hair to create a striking impact. The grand finale came courtesy of Johanna Cree Brown, who fused fibre optic lighting with wefts to create a light-up spectacular style which closed the show. "When I woke up this morning I thought this was going to be my last ever live show," concluded Trevor. "But I've enjoyed doing this so much that now I'm not sure. Never say never!"