“And the winner of the New Zealand Hairdresser of the year is … Mana Dave!“
Cheers, applause and whistles from the enthusiastic throng of over 1,000 hairdressers at the Hair Expo 2008 night of nights .
It is traditional for Australia to adopt successful New Zealanders as our own. I therefore felt it my duty to dig deeper into the person, the interests and the drive behind Mana Dave.
From just a few preliminary phone calls, I found the secret to his success has been driven by his increased involvement in education. Singapore, New York, Australia - he gathers fans wherever he goes. So how does he do it?
My first question put to a jetlagged Mana was, “So where have you just been and what have you been doing?”
“I was very lucky to be part of the team in Singapore teaching the Redken Creates Collection.”
He was referring to Singapore Fashion Week, and as part of the Redken Creates Collection team Asian launch, Mana conducted seminars and workshops to educate the Malaysian/ Singapore Redken delegates. The finale was an over the top Hair Show to 1200 people.
How did you get across your colour story to such a huge audience?
Well, that’s the challenge … you need to make it entertaining and visual.
My models had pre-coloured black and brown tones and asymmetrical flat or curly textured styles. I pinned icy blonde wefts adding 3D texture or length to exaggerate the shapes and a new dimension. It showed how colour could transform a look.
Colourists and hair colour are quite often undervalued and underexposed. So it was good fun to show how colour can be such a powerful medium.
Mana, I discovered, is a multi-talented hairdresser who cuts, styles for catwalks, colours, presents, teaches, mentors, wins accolades and awards .
How did you get this amazing gig?
Redken allow people to audition from all over the world to become part of the team that design the “Redken Creates Collection”.
I auditioned by sending mannequin heads with a submission outlining the themes and techniques of my collection. I was chosen and had two trips to New York for developing, testing and training the new collection with the rest of the international winners.
We started in Barcelona with the European launch to teach guest artists from 15 countries. Then onto Singapore for the Asian Launch.
Now that your feet are touching the ground again, how do you manage the balance between your employer, your clients and your stardom?
I have been at Maelstrom for 11 years and Tiffany my boss has always been very pro-education and encouraged me to develop my job into a career. You need the ‘buy in’ from all the people in your salon environment. If you don’t get it and you have to reschedule because your flight has changed, you could lose your job and your clients .There goes how you pay your bills. My clients have been really kind to me. They see how teaching has helped develop my skills. They see their support as an investment in me and realise that they benefit.
Why do you like teaching?
It’s an opportunity to have a positive impact upon someone. You can start a chain reaction. Fashion and hair trends can be superficial. Teaching with heart, making it personal can change all that to meaningful.
What do you do to recharge yourself, creatively?
I have to admit, though it sounds very uncool, but I watch shitloads of trash TV. Mindless crap. Hours of it. MTV, ET, I like all the clothes and red carpet stuff, the hair, the fashion and the styling. I’m a visual person (Lots of laughter).
Mana has got pay TV, a beloved family and a fabulous career in New Zealand. We can only hope he visits again soon. Good thing we gave him a trophy on his last trip.
Contact Redken for his teaching schedule for 2009.
See other articles about the hairdressing industry.
|