Hair heroes took to the stage where covetable colour was the focus, as Wella celebrated their ‘Illumin-Era’ in Sydney. Highlighting the power of their Illumina colour, a myriad of models walked the runway, while hairdressing legends, brand representatives and even Wella’s newly announced ambassador also took to the stage.

Based on and creating fashion-forward looks around the Golden Hour hair trend, the event in Sydney’s Alexandria invited hair industry members and beauty media to experience this leading trend in party style. Bubbling cocktails, mango sorbet, delectable canapes, DJ-led tunes, ‘gram-worthy backdrops and a ghd styling bar were just some of the many installations and festivities taking place amidst a myriad of gigantic silver orbs floating throughout the venue.

Guests took their seats to experience the Golden Hour trend in full and witness the runway show of pre-done models with colour as the ultimate feature, before hearing from the brand’s General Manager for ANZ & Greater Asia, Guillaume Cantelou. Throughout the night, the speakers, led by compere Ludmilla Hilnovsky, Wella Professionals Creative & Community Leader for AU & NZ, discussed the trend, as well as social media insights essential for the digital age. Ludmilla spoke to industry leaders Renya Xydis and Haleema Moriatis of Valonz, as well as Monique McMahon of Que Colour, who created the looks backstage, about these core topics and their favourite products in colour and care to achieve the looks.

“To me it’s that Aussie sunset and Aussie sunshine girl, who has that Aussie sunshine glow that we love in the salon,” Renya said about the trend. “We love sexy hair, we love luminous hair, we love hair that moves and makes women feel confident, so for us, to bring this to life is really beautiful and special.”

Makeup artist and beauty creator Claire Bridgett also took to the stage for an interview around social media, content creation and staying ahead of the curve in this vital field (top tip – good lighting is key!). Claire gave her advice on how she’s amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, while Renya and Monique, Instagram and TikTok stars in their own right, spoke to the importance of investing in social media with a dedicated salon job, giving it the available resources and expanding it when possible. Claire expanded on these evolving trends and how they’re impacting your clients’ feeds.

“It’s not 2014 or 2016 anymore, glam has changed dramatically, personally I’ve seen it pared back and I’ve pared a lot of my makeup,” Claire said. “it’s not as intense, that’s what I’m doing and what I’m teaching on my platform. We’re still bold, we’re still confident, like Wella, but we’re refining it.”

Finally, the team announced former Miss Universe Australia, TedX speaker, author, presenter, creator, actor and influencer Maria Thattil as their latest ambassador and new face of the brand. Maria took to the runway with a bold new blonde look, created by Marie Uva of Uva Salon, who joined her on stage to further explain the technology and inspiration behind the look.

“For me, what’s been amazing is that, over the last few years, it’s not just that my career has evolved, it’s also me as a person and as a woman and I feel like hair is such a vehicle to express and reflect that. So, joining with Wella has been the most incredible alignment, because we align on values, it’s about being bold, fierce and confident in who you are, so doing it with a complete transformation feels right,” Maria said.

Maria revealed the look to her 265,000 Instagram followers on the same day, with a photoshoot, transformation video and then event images, showcasing the power of social media and powerful colour in real time.

“I joined the Wella family, said goodbye to an old version of me, and embraced a new one that’s unafraid to do the daring thing, a Wella Woman,” Maria said on social media. “Hair, or the lack thereof, is a deeply significant thing. It’s personal, political, powerful. Mine is my crown. A vehicle to tell the world who I am without saying a word.” Maria’s post further spoke to the power of Wella’s Illumina Color, Blondorplex and the Ultimate Repair in achieving this new, on-trend hue and maintaining hair health and integrity throughout the transformation process.

From there, the hair team and models made one last on-stage appearance before guests took to the photo walls, canape and cocktail in hand, to celebrate Golden Hour well beyond the hour itself. Exiting with goodie bags, social media tips and new, necessary colour looks to try, the Illumin-Era is officially invading salons – make sure you keep up.

For more information visit www.wella.com/professional/en-AU/home

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