Paul Stafford at the Alternative Hair Show
Paul Stafford wrapped up a fantastic year of collaboration with Denman with a stunning performance in front of thousands at the 33rd Alternative Hair Show in London on 11 October. The Outcasts was one of the highlights of a brilliant Alternative, a show that brought together the crème de la crème of international hairdressing. Three times winner of Northern Irish Hairdresser of the Year, Paul shared the stage with industry greats such as the UK’s Andrew Collinge, multi-award winner in Australia and New Zealand hairdresser of the year Emiliano Vitale from é-Salon, Saco’s Richard Ashcroft and, of course, the founders of the Alternative, Sanrizz.
Outcasts oozed all the Rock ‘n’ Roll for which Paul is famous, joining together his energy, his obsession with music and, of course, his amazing styling. The audience went wild, cheering his girl gang as they danced wildly through the recognisable terrors of life lived on the edge of society. The intensity of Outcasts was the perfect contrast to Saco’s understated, creepy show, Being, and TIGI’s stunning horror presentation, TIGI Tales.
Paul and the team at Belfast’s premier salon, Stafford Hair, have been working closely with Denman for more than two decades, but 2015 took the partnership to new heights, with international shows, the Alternative and a gorgeous collection that has won Leisa Stafford a place in the finals of the British Hairdresser of the Year Awards.
‘When Denman asked me to do a segment for the Alternative I was overwhelmed,’ said Paul Stafford, who worked with choreographer Fleur Mellor, stylist Jamie Russell and MUA Cat Coogan. ‘The Alternative launched the year I entered hairdressing and ever since I have dreamed of creating a show that would excite and challenge, while helping support such a worthy cause as Fighting Leukaemia. It was also very humbling to be the first Northern Irish hairdresser to appear at the event.’
Jonathan King, Marketing Manager for Denman said, “We were genuinely thrilled to give Paul and his team the opportunity to be the first artistic team from Northern Ireland to present at the Alternative Hair Show. Stafford Hair are great ambassadors for creative hairdressing and we are proud that they continue to represent Denman at the highest level. At the Alternative Hair Show they absolutely nailed it and we were delighted by the fantastic reaction they got from the thousands of hairdressers watching.”
The Alternative Show this year was called Aurora, inspiring the teams to create multiple colours from the palest pinks and yellows, through blue, green and the richest blacks. The northern latitudes also proved inspirational, with aspects of dawn and dusk, glacial ice patterns and frozen landscapes woven into the themes and styling. Every team is self-funding, with monies raised from ticket sales and donations topping £200,000. Over the past 33 years the Alternative has raised more than £10 million to fight leukaemia.
