20 years on we celebrate a brand that took the hairdressing retail industry by storm through innovation and a product line up that empowered hairdressers to stock and sell better retail. Fast forward through colour development to truly global education, we chat with the man behind the brand, the products and the fame that’s continuing to drive KEVIN.MURPHY into the next dimension, writes Cameron Pine.

Based in Melbourne from the 80s to the early 2000s, Kevin Murphy’s career, despite his prolific reputation as a session and editorial hairdresser, was born in a salon. His style was unique and he’d mix unlikely products like eyeshadow and thin out gel to make it dry faster backstage to get the results he wanted in hair. This led him to produce a brand he knew would give hairdressers the confidence to create fashionable hair that consumers love.

Kevin worked in leading salons before starting his own salon, titled Kusco-Murphy, in the 90s. This was the very name that saw the birth of his first products, once called Kusco-Murphy and not KEVIN.MURPHY, Many of you who have been around since then would remember Hair.Resort – his very first product.

“Having the salon and the brand Kusco-Murphy in Melbourne, none of the hairdresser brands would buy my product because they didn’t want my salon name in their salon. They said they’d buy it if I called it KEVIN.MURPHY,” Kevin said.

The first product, EASY.RIDER, is a cult favourite styling crème combining a revolutionary formula that the brand still uses today – its minty green pastel packaging was a first for the industry and oh-so-welcome in a sea of the same. In 2004, the KEVIN.MURPHY brand was born with a range of seven naturally derived, texture-driven products. There are now more than 150 in the portfolio.

“The beachy tubs outsell the shampoos and we’ve had the same tubs since 2008 As a mixture of setting lotion and cold cream, men’s products, including NIGHT.RIDER, are still our highest sellers,” Kevin said. “A product has to do something while it’s doing something else. Customers want a duality of benefits, performance and anything that makes styling easier. People want crossovers – hero products where they don’t need to buy the whole line.”

The KEVIN.MURPHY brand has evolved significantly over the last 20 years and to celebrate the two-decade milestone, the brand has launched two new limited designs of their most coveted styling product – Anti.Gravity.Spray and Hair.Resort.Spray. Anti.Gravity.Spray helps hair go bigger, while Hair.Resort.Spray. treats hair to a day at the beach. As the product innovations evolve, marketing and consumer trends are evolving too.

“We are here for the hairdresser as our number one, for me especially, but people are now purchasing online more than ever before, and I think that it’s taken the onus off the hairdresser to really have all that stock because hairdressers want to come and colour hair but, at the same time, your spaces are also a showroom for the brand,” Kevin said. “People are buying differently. We have to change the way we are doing things and make sure we don’t turn into a big brand that can’t move with the hairdresser too.”

From the trend away from bigger salons to smaller spaces and studios continuing, Kevin too cites the changes in needs and demand for education. He believes the smaller salons can be really great for the customer in terms of consultation and experience and that the brand needs to adapt to where consumers are happy to spend. Kevin is focusing back on education so expect to see a lot of content featuring him.

“People want short, sharp education between clients. They are not going to watch for hours – it has to be bite size and relatable,” he said.

A few new products are currently in the works and Kevin says to stay tuned into colour and styling products that have bond builders attached.

From his home in Byron Bay that he has just sold for a potential move back to his roots in Melbourne, 20 years has been a great opportunity to gain an insight into how Kevin reflects on the changes in the industry, such as the rise of smaller, boutique salons and the importance of social media for brand engagement. Kevin and his team are heavily focused on the need for multi-functional products and the shift towards using influencers and ambassadors over traditional campaign models. He also cites the need for more discussions around balancing work and life, the importance of supporting hairdressers, and the future direction of the brand.

KEVIN.MURPHY has uniquely enabled a meeting of both the craft and the consumer, elevating both hairdressers and products simultaneously.

“From the outset I wanted KEVIN.MURPHY to be different. I knew the range had to be visually distinct, there seemed little point filling innovative formulas into something that looked too regular and it also had to perform.”

From a few products developed to meet an unmet need, to now operating in over 60 countries with a global network of salons and stylists, we look forward to the next two decades of our beloved KEVIN.MURPHY.

For stockist enquiries, visit www.ozdare.com/contact-us.