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Intercoiffure Generation Next 2005
In October, 2005
I won the Intercoiffure Generation Next Photo Make-over contest.
Nine other winners and I were presented on-stage at the Waldorf
Astoria Hotel to an audience of industry bigwigs and celebrities
as Generation Next,
the ones to watch. It was quite an honor. It
was also great fun and a satisfying artistic outlet.
Press and photos from the event.
 t
was 
It was
quite an adventure at the
Intercoiffure Generation
Next
event at
the Waldorf.
Read all
about one of the biggest challenges and it’s happy ending in
this editorial piece
by Thom
Cammer and Theresa Smolen.
Punk Roots
Showing at the Waldorf
By Thom Cammer and Theresa Smolen
This
is my story of how Manic Panic, “The punkers haircolor" and some
down-n-dirty, guerilla hairdressing infiltrated the high society
salon world during the Intercoiffure Generation Next show
at the Waldorf and rescued me from a hair coloring disaster.
My journey into the heart of the Zsa Zsa world of the High End
Hair Industry began with a simple phone call in September, 2005
while cutting at Jean Paul Salons and Spa in Albany, NY.
It was a message informing me that I had won the Intercoiffure
Generation Next photo contest. As the prize, the winners
were to be showcased as Generation Next, the up and
coming people to watch. We would present a finished work
on stage to the international membership of Intercoiffure at
their recent North American congress at the Waldorf Astoria
Hotel. This was to take place on October 9th,
2005. SWEET!
Instantly my mind flashed back to some of my strongest
influences in the hair industry. Mentors and friends like
Trevor Sorbie, multiple NAHA award-winner Ruth Roche (Rare Hair,
NYC) and Ellen Lawlor (Redken 5th Avenue and Cutler
Salon) who taught me to think outside the box when designing.
What would I do? A war began in my mind between the endless
number of possibilities and ideas dancing behind my eyes.
I considered dozens of
designs that I thought make an impact. Along with that, I
had to consider what kind of statement these designs made about
me as an artist. That was, after all, the opportunity
here!
One night while in deep thought and frenetically flipping cable
channels, I spotted this character on the Cartoon Network.
A little Animee character who was drawn with sharp edges and big
dewy eyes sporting black hair with the highlights drawn in
electric blue. I bolted upright with realization!
This had all the elements I was looking for! It was
young, edgy and not human. (Sounds like my last date.) So
it was with great confidence that I decided upon an editorial
design based on that Animee style come-to-life! Creating
the style would be challenging and would require the full-on
hardcore use of the hairdressing and special effects tricks I’d
absorbed over the years. And for people who were really
paying attention, it would give them a wee glimpse into part of
my personality.
The three weeks leading to the show went well. My
“creative team” (my coworker Manolo, my model Ariel and I)
created the costume for the character. I wrestled with the
idea of when to do the cut and the color, as I was not entirely
sure what I was expected to do on stage. I finally decided
to do the cut the night before we left. I could have
easily done the color ahead of time too. But I decided I
would be a team player and do the bright blue cartoon color in
New York at the Waldorf with the color support guy from a
favored color line whose products we were strongly urged to use
for the show. Having dotted all my I’s and crossed all my T’s, I
checked into the suite at W NYC thinking this is it. We’ve
worked so hard. I want to play! I want to eat! I
want to buy good shoes!
Now don’t get
me wrong. I am not someone who is blindly optimistic.
But I assumed, having done all of my prep work to the ‘nth
degree, that things would be chill from that point on!
Well, my friends… Rule number one: Never assume! To
make a long story short, the
color support guy… he wasn’t so supportive.
The formula he chose to create the
crucial
cartoon blue color needed for the design to work, created
exactly the opposite effect. In a nutshell, the color
screwed up my model's hair color BIG-time and it was now 9 PM
the night before the show in a hotel room at the Waldorf.
Get the picture?
Polite words cannot
describe to you the thoughts that went through my head when the
color expert removed the foils and revealed that the color he
had placed on the pre-lightened hair was not in fact vibrant
cartoon blue. No no… It was funeral blue.
Banker blue. Dead blue. It was an icky awful blue as thick
and dull as ink. I glazed over with a manic smile on my
face, masking dastardly thoughts that make Lizzy Borden look
like a charm school chippy.
At that moment, I had
choices to make. I had no time to freak out, implode and
dissolve! I could not fall off the edge! I had to I
step over this problem and make this design work! Being a
film and theatre trooper who does not give in easily, my vision
immediately tunneled and focused on salvaging my work. I
zeroed-in on what .needed to be done to coax the phoenix from
this head of navy blue ashes.
In an all-out effort to save what was otherwise going to be a
flawless presentation of haircut and color, my boys and I
traipsed through a monsoon in Manhattan that night. We had
to make it down to St. Marks to Trash and Vaudeville before they
closed, to get our hands on the ONLY hair color that would
correct the botched color job. MANIC PANIC.
By 7AM the next morning we were in the thick of it at the
Waldorf. It was beautiful chaos. The backstage experience was
all about designers and make-up artists and semi-clad models
with wonderful editorial hair-do’s running around gluing false
eyelashes, stuffing bras and slathering body glitter.
Gotta love it!
After our runway rehearsals
and production meetings we returned to the model prep area and
began to pump the breath of life back into this hairdo I was
attempting. With careful formulations and some rinsed-out,
used foils from the trash we set to work.
Using the
Manic Panic’s Flashlightening 40 volume kit, we were able to cut
through all the inky dark color that had been deposited on the
previously prelightened hair and reveal a beautiful, even pale
yellow level from root to end. After shampooing and towel
drying the section of lightened hair, I foiled in Manic Panic
Badboy and Shocking Blue in thinly sectioned back-to-back foils.
Given that the clock was ticking, I used a technique of tapping
each foil between the plates of a flat iron to boost the color
penetration into the hair and bring intense color results
rapidly.
We paced
around waiting for the color to process like expectant fathers
in a waiting room. This would be it. Whatever this
final process yielded would be the color that would be presented
on stage to some of the best artists in the hair industry.
Finally it was time to remove the foils. We all stiffened
our resolve as Manolo removed the first one.
Bells
tolled and doves took wing (in my head) as the beautiful blue
slices were revealed one by one, each looking exactly as vivid
and even as I had hoped! We had achieved incredible depth
and shine by using these several shades of blue Manic Panic.
We had worked up to the last minute before the show correcting
the botched color. But when Ariel finally walked the
catwalk and I saw the spotlight illuminate the key blue colors I
knew that my design had come together beautifully. I
beamed with satisfaction as I followed him down the catwalk.
The editorial design was a success and it received rave reviews
from hair industry big wigs and celebrity stylists alike.
Well, that is my story and I’m sticking to it! And I’m
sticking with Manic Panic! I knew I could count on
Manic Panic for consistent, reliable results on the first try!It
punched extraordinary to a new level. Thanks to
everyone who helped me make this event such a terrific success
both professionally and personally. I really appreciate it
more than I can ever express. And I really appreciate Tish
and Snookie for putting out such a dynamic and versatile product
for all these years!
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