Australasian College Broadway has won The International Hairstylists Society’s (IHS) Battle of the Colleges for the second year running with their performance based on music icon Grace Jones.
The contest, which was launched by the IHS to nurture and identify top up and coming students within the hairdressing industry, saw four private hairdressing colleges go head-to-head on the runway in front of an audience of 600 people at Burwood RSL on May 11. The brief for each college was to produce a themed presentation showcasing the latest fashion and hair trends.
Seven judges, including media, leading industry experts, and award-winning stylists, judged the contest based on innovation, originality and variety of hairstyles presented within each performance.
Australasian College Broadway CEO, Ms. Maureen Houssein-Mustafa said, “Performing and winning the contest was a real testament to the hard work our students and educators have put in over the last few months. To see it all come together so professionally in front of a roaring crowd was just magical to witness. We’re so proud of the talent and promise that our students are showing as tomorrow’s hairdressing industry leaders.”
The winning entry by the Australasian College Broadway took the audience through a number of looks made famous by Grace Jones including the sexy seductress, the jungle cheetah, and the androgynous, “robo half man-half woman”.
Other competing colleges included the Victory Institute, with its Brazilian carnival theme, The Australian International Hair Academy, with its Hairspray the Movie theme and LKJ Hair and Beauty College, honouring “punk” across the nations.
Peter Elchaar, Director of Battle of the Colleges at the International Hairstylists Society said, “The level of competition was simply outstanding. The colleges demonstrated the professionalism and inventiveness of Australian hairdressing in general, and the fact that we have amazing young talent who can compete on a world stage. We look forward to next year’s entries as the competition gets better and better each year.”
Elchaar said that the Battle of the Colleges will be taken to Victoria for the first time this July.