A future that is more sustainable, beautiful and better is what Aveda lives and breathes. Now that salons and stylists are back to business, the company held a virtual press conference to remind us their vision, values and commitments to the planet, post-lockdown. We talked to the talented multi award-winner Aveda Vice President and Global Creative Director Antoinette Beenders who is based in America and has been super busy running 3 different teams from graphic design and copy writing to store design and visual merchandising. Antoinette shared her thoughts on salon re-opening, services, trends, sustainability and safety-the new luxury.
1. What did life in lockdown look like for you? How did you keep up your creative side?
A: Busier than ever! I created 29 technical videos, did 5 sessions for over 3000 people, sessions with 21 Aveda Institutes, 1 charity event for the PBA COVID 19 Relief Fund. I launched my new collection on Earth Day (April 22nd).
2. How can salons be working now to ensure it’s still a luxury/treat experience with social distancing and PPE? And how can they ensure they can remain as sustainable as possible with the extra usage of disposables masks, gloves etc?
Safety is the new luxury as well as time; spending more time with your client as they have not seen you for months. Cloth masks can be washed and reused and there are masks on the market with disposable filters that you can change out.
3. Which services are driving salons in the US?
Colour is the number 1 request more so then cuts; everybody is working from home and is difficult to hide roots during Zoom calls; you get away with growing out a haircut but not with no colour.
4. How about hair trends? What do you think we’ll see in terms of potential moods from this point on? More experimental or more low maintenance?
In general, people are just happy to be back to the salons. There are opportunities for make-overs, but a lot of clients are liking the length they have grown and would like to hang on to it . Same with colour; quite a few people are open to going back to their natural hair colour.
5. What surprised you about the hairdressing community during lockdown?
Globally coming together on social media, lots of free education was offered on avedapurepro.com and Instagram. I created #THESCOOP at 2ND week of lockdown to get to know Aveda artists and out of network artists better and more on a personal level.
6. Do you think the experience will bring us closer as an international community of hairdressers or highlight how different our experiences have been?
Yes, I think we have all come a lot closer globally. In the past we tended to stick more to the countries where we were from or worked.
7. Will we see a move away from ostentation and luxe – will people find this distasteful or will we want to party like there is no tomorrow and throw caution to the wind?
I think there 2 camps. Camp 1: people being more aware and appreciative of their environment and trying to become more sustainable. Camp 2: the youth that has been locked up wants to go out and party or protest hence we are seeing wave 2 coming back in Florida-Alabama and we are waiting for others states to follow like DC etc.
8. Who wore the lockdown well? Celebs or profile figures- who got the lockdown look right?
The best have been the bold ones. Everyone has taken to pastel shades. The likes of Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Elle Fanning and embracing their natural textures. I’ve been following Gabrielle Union who started her quarantine natural hair chronicles hashtag. We’ve all had to really get to know our hair better- even celebrities!
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