The annual Rush Live presentation, one of the highlights of the Salon International weekend was a celebration of the wonderful heritage of the company, who in 2019, celebrated their 25th anniversary, along with once more becoming a family owned business. The presentation also looked to the future, with the Rush Artistic Team showcasing their exceptional creativity in cutting, colouring and styling, featuring International Creative Director, Andrew Heasman’s, inspirational new collection – Point Constellation.

The Presentation

Co-founder and joint CEO, Stell Andrew, welcomed the audience to the presentation, sharing images of his partner and co-founder Andy Phouli at the start of their career and the opening of the first Rush Salon in Wimbledon in 1994. Fast forward 25 years and the company now has salons in 100 locations throughout the UK. For nine years, Rush has presented Rush Live and raised over £150,000 in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital and this year’s presentation will help to add valuable funds to this total.

Valuable Work

After presenting a video showcasing the valuable work carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Stell introduced International Creative Director, Andy Heasman and Academy Director, Adam Bryant to the stage. Andy set the scene for the presentation and spoke about the inspiration for the cutting and colouring sections coming from his London Hairdresser of the Year collection, Point Constellation. Adam spoke about the Rush Academy and how the hub of education in London’s Covent Garden has been training the Rush Team along with hairdressers from all over the world.

Colour Team

Following a video presentation, International Colour Director, Chris Williams introduced Colour Team members, Tina Poonam Mehmi and Craig Teeder. The trio used the principals of the Point Constellation collection in their colour work – star sectioning panels and stencils, working with a de-saturated almost mono chromatic colour palette, inspired by the night sky. Chris also spoke about the colour work the Rush salons had been producing following on from the launch of the Rush Colour Artists earlier this year. The Colour Artists project has provided the salon colourists with effective tools using classic techniques to communicate colour to clients.

Iconic Rush Hairstyles

The Colour Team left the stage and the lights went down and the audience’s attention was brought to the screen, which presented 25 years of iconic Rush hairstyles. Education Director, Paola Pinto was welcomed on stage and spoke about the training Rush provide their team. From trainee hairdressers starting their journey with Rush to the ongoing training and development each member of the Rush Family receive, education is integral to each team member’s career with Rush. Paola introduced the Rush Workshop Team, all who had different journeys with the company and all who have developed their skills through training to become key members of the Workshop Team.

Winning Looks

Team members Ryan Humpage, Michael Rackett, Sophie Chandler, Jessica Hau, Jessica Quarmby and Nicole Appadu were tasked with taking an iconic Rush look and giving it a 2019 feel. Michael worked on a look from the winning Artistic Team collection of 2004, Nicola worked on a look from the 2017 winning Artistic Team collection, Jessica produced a contemporary version from Chris Williams winning Colour Technician of the Year collection from 2009, Jessica presented a look from Tina Farey’s winning 2012 London Hairdresser of the Year collection, Ryan’s look was from the monochromatic Artistic Team collection of 2013 and Sophie presented a look created by Tina Farey from the Artistic Team collection of 2010. As their models left the stage they were proudly wearing a t-shirt depicting the original image.

Their Journies

Throughout the presentation, the team all spoke about their Rush journey – Michael, Ryan and Sophie all joined as apprentices and have risen through the ranks receiving regular promotions, winning internal competitions and between them have finalised for the British Hairdressing Awards an incredible nine times – a tremendous accolade for the trio. Jessica Hau has worked with Rush for a short time, but very quickly her creative talent was evident, and she joined the Workshop Team and has taken part in many presentations. Nicole is salon based and has through attending and assisting at events, showcased her skills at every opportunity and has now become part of the Workshop Team. Jessica Quarmby has taken another route, combining business acumen with creativity as she is a Rush Franchisee. Being part of the Workshop Team provides Jessica with an outlet for her creativity and one which she can share with her salon team.

#RushInspirations

The next video introduced Tina Farey, International Editorial Director, who in her presentation #rushinspirations showcased her collaboration with London based fashion designer, Colin Horgan. Tina is a founder member of the Rush Artistic Team and has worked for Rush for 23 years. A winner of many awards, Tina’s vision and creativity knows no bounds and she continually inspires with her stunning work. In a lone presentation, Tina sliced into the hair to reveal wet look painted panels, the outcome fusing high fashion with African Warriors and Kabuki. The solo model was joined in a dramatic theatrical choreographed presentation by other Colin Horgan attired models featuring painted multi-level bobs, mullets, frizz and larger than life Afro’s who took to the catwalk to showcase the wonderful avant- garde hair Tina had created.

A Multi-Faceted Collection

When the models left the stage the Rush Artistic Team featuring, International Creative Director, Andy Heasman and team members, Paola Pinto, Seung Ki-Baek and Ashley Haynes brought their models to the stage to present Point Constellation. A multi-faceted collection of haircuts and dressed hair is the foundation of Point Constellation. Andy has used the principals of using star shaped angles to create internal texture and movement, which defines the external shape. Andy has used the evolution of culture and design to create directional hair with intergalactic style.

The Finale

Once the models had been presented they left the stage and in an exciting finale, Tina’s models, resplendent in Colin Horgan’s latest collection took to the catwalk once more. They were joined by the Workshop Teams iconic Rush looks and the Point Constellation models before the team took to the stage to say their final thank you’s to the audience and the generous sponsors – HJ, L’Oréal Professionel, Nano-Keratin, KMS, iSalon, Balmain and Maletti, where they received rapturous applause. Rush Live 2019 was a spectacular event – they looked to the stars and inspired us all.

For more info about the brand, you can visit Rush here.