Fellowship Finales

Each year, the Fellowship for British Hairdressing provides unrivalled opportunities for education, inspiration and exposure through its mentoring programs. As such remarkable schemes, it’s fitting that they go out with a bang – and that’s precisely what happened when the 2018 Colour Project and Project X teams came together for one big farewell grand finale.

The evening, which was hosted at the L’Oréal Academy in London saw friends, family, colleagues and industry supporters come together, to see a snippet of what the teams had learnt over the last twelve months.

Team leaders Kai Wan (Project X) and Chris Williams (Colour Project) hosted the evening, which saw each member of both teams come together on stage to present models representing their highlights of the year.

“The last year has helped the teams in both their salon and creative work,” said Kai. “And what you’re going to see on stage represents that. Each team member has taken something different from each mentor, to use in their own unique way.”

“This mentoring is incredible,” added Chris. “You just don’t get access to these types of people anywhere except in the Fellowship.”

First on stage were Project X’s Poonam (Tina) Mehmi from Rush Hair & Beauty and Eloise Dudley from the Francesco Group, joined by The Colour Project’s Krysia Eddery from Perfectly Posh Hair.

Tina’s model was inspired by their wig-making masterclass with Sam Burnett, and resulted in a purple wet-look structured style. For Krysia, her pastel pink and lime-green colours were inspired by a session with Robert Eaton. Eloise produced an avant-garde woven wool look, inspired by a day with Ashleigh Hodges. All three credited their confidence to their presentation workshop with Edward Hemmings.

Next on stage were Colour Project’s Joely Richmond from Harvey Luke and Project X’s Rebecca from Harvey Luke and Sarah Roesli from Bloggs Salon.

Joely’s sponge-patterned lilac colour was inspired by methods picked up during her session with Robert Eaton, while Sarah created a tie-dye pastel pink wig, inspired by Sam Burnett’s teachings. For Rebecca, it was a day with avant-garde expert Robert Masciave that inspired her braided mohawk, interwoven with nails and safety pins.

The third group on stage was Ben Brazzo from Malcolm Tina Barker and Kelsey Franklin from Sarai Hair and Beauty representing Project X, and Natasha Quigley from The Hairbank representing the Colour Project.

Ben’s lilac crop was inspired by a day with Mark Hayes at Sassoon, while Kelsey’s dressed-out blonde curls came from a year of collaborating – both with mentors and her fellow team. Natasha created a blonde look with bold green fringe, inspired by the team’s shoot day with Darren Ambrose and Clayde Baumann.

Next up it was Donna O'Donoghue from Eclipse Hair for Project X and Yolanda Douglas from Errol Douglas for the Colour Project. They were joined by Caitlin Haynes and Kezia McDermott from Idlewide, who collaborated to unite both the Colour Project and Project X, respectively.

Donna create a dramatic braided updo, inspired by her time on Extreme Hair Ways – a TV show opportunity which came off the back of her time on the team. Caitlin and Kezia created dressed-out curls inspired by their days with Ashleigh Hodges and Sam Burnett. For Yolanda, it was a stunning sunset blend of colours, inspired by a day with Sassoon.

Katie Hassall from Hairhaus and Lois Negus from Maxwell’s were next, representing Project X, joined by Sara Williams from MJT Salons on Colour Project.

Sassoon inspired Katie’s yellow precision crop, while Robert Eaton’s session once again inspired – with Sara declaring him her inspiration for her lilac and peach waved look. For Lois, the team’s shoot with Luke Benson inspired her grungy purple wig.

Finally, it was over to Marlene Lamont from Project X and Natalie Newton from the Colour Project, who were joined by the collaborative pairing of Georgina Cadwallader and Jonathan Hill, both from KJM Salons.

Marlene was inspired by Robert Masciave for her avant-garde punk look, while Natalie’s rainbow wefts took their cue from the team’s visit to the Tate Modern. Gina and John brought the show to a striking finish by creating a pale pink pixie crop – which was dramatically shaved off at the end of the show.