It was a scintillating evening at the L’Oreal Professionnel Indian Hairdressing Awards (IHA) West Regional Finals award function.
L’Oréal Professionnel has always set the benchmark for the industry. Through Indian Hairdressing Awards (IHA), the brand has provided an exclusive platform to recognise the budding talent in the hair industry. As the competition is held over a course of four regional rounds and a grand finale, the recently held West Region Finals, in Mumbai, concluded the four regional rounds.
At the West Region Finals, 35 teams were judged by a panel that included prominent names like international hair artist Lie Kuang – Owner, Lie Kuang & Co, Creative Salon Indonesia; Mehernaaz Dhondy, Editor of Grazia; celebrated fashion designer Nachiket Barve; Natasha Nishchol, Founder of Fat Mu, The Pro Makeup Company; and prominent fashion photographer Colston Julian.
Apart from creative hair art demonstration on stage, the event was memorable for another reason. With West Region Finals, IHA took a concrete step towards an ever evolving concept of digitalisation. It was inspiring to witness that the entire entry submission process was digitised. All the entries submitted by the aspiring hairdressers were showcased on a dedicated digital platform www.iha2018.in. The entire submission process was digitised, too. The selected participants were then asked to recreate their respective looks before the judges.
The competition was then followed by a celebration in the form of two hair shows – Art Infinite by L’Oréal Professionnel Dream Team and #FuturisticHair by ID Artists, a group of dynamic young hair artists. It would be an understatement to define these shows as mesmerising. It was indeed heartwarming to witness the ID artists on stage as they will be the stars of the industry tomorrow. Dream Team members set the benchmark really high with their creativity and expertise.
This edition of the Indian Hairdressing Awards is significant, as it coincides with the 20 year anniversary of L’Oréal Professionnel in India.
It was surely an exhilarating time for the participants and definitely for the winners. Now that all the regional rounds have been concluded, it will be exciting to see the IHA 2018-19 Finale. It will be held early next year at an international location. It’s bound to be grander and bigger!
List of winners of West Regional Finals
COLOUR TROPHY
Winner: Grace Khawbung, Reflexions Salon, Surat
First Runner-Up: Kunaal Verma, The Golden Ratio, Indore
Second Runner-Up (tie): Allaudden Matru, Splash Salon, Mumbai; and Ashwin I Kshirsagar, Envi Salon & Spa, Mumbai
CUT & STYLE
Winner: Mangesh Hanmantrao Suryawanshi, Kapil’s Salon & Academy, Mumbai
Runner-Up (tie): Mrunal Desai, Vipul Chudasama Salon & Academy, Mumbai; and Viren Patel, Enrich Salon, Ahmedabad
MEN’S IMAGE
Winner: Aniket Jadhav, Vipul Chudasama Salon & Academy, Mumbai
Runner-Up: Shamsher Ahamad, Envi Salon & Spa, Mumbai
YOUNG COLOURIST
Winner:Kajal Morarka, Bespoke Salon, Mumbai
Runner-Up (tie): Atharva Cincholkar, Enrich Salon, Mumbai; and Kajal Dipak Gohil, Arman’s Salon & Spa, Mumbai
