28 March 2024

Education at its Best: Countdown to R+Co’s Electric House 2019!

What sounds like a long lost Jimi Hendrix blues tune is actually an avant-garde educational gathering by R+Co… enter the Electric House event in New York City on Sunday, October 6th, 2019!

Hairdressing has come a long way over recent years, including breakthrough coloring products, pioneering in botanicals and sustainability, and the shake-up of communications through social media. It only stands to reason that something would have to change in training and education, and R+Co is taking the lead with Electric House (October 6th, NYC), an immersive brand and entertainment experience designed to blend the art of hair and outrageous theatrics set amongst a tantaliizing backdrop of dance and music for an R+Co educational experience with an eclectic, eccentric flair. Estetica spoke to the protagonists about the method behind their madness and how they intend to follow through.

R+Co education assumes an eclectic and eccentric flair, leaving an indelible impression!

One night only… this is what the marquis should read! Because after all the brainstorming and planning done by R+Co Co-Founders and The Collective members, Electric House is actually an experience designed to ‘electrify’ the attendees – not in the sense of shocking, but rather stimulating, energizing, illuminating. The evening will be all about looking to the past to inspire our future in the hair industry, including dozens of hair demonstrations punctuated with exciting performances.

Garren, Celebrity Stylist and co-founder of R+Co reveals his eureka moment, “We did this great event in L.A. last year and saw that the east coast needed the same sort of attention, but went in a kind of different direction to do it… This time, we’re really creating an Electric and Eccentric atmosphere. With Electric House, it will be more of an experience instead of actually dissecting haircuts and setting patterns. We will be incorporating vignettes in which the characters featured within will come alive and become a part of the party.” He also reasons and explains the whys and wherefores. “Education is a little more eclectic now. You need to know the past to be able to go through the future… It’s more than just cutting hair, it’s creating an image.”

Thom Priano, Celebrity Men’s Stylist and co-founder of R+Co, agrees, saying “One of my biggest joys of Electric House is meeting all the different artists that come from all over the world. This gives me the opportunity to create excitement and broaden everyone’s horizons to do something out of their comfort zone. It sort of opens up their creative channels to push to do better work.” And he adds, “Many years ago, I used to visit salons and teach hairdressers the basics of haircutting which I found was very helpful to hairdressers that could not get out into the world. Today, hairdressers like the stimulation of getting out to events like Electric House where they can see and be involved with their peers to share ideas and to be stimulated by what is happening on stage.

Howard McLaren, co-founder and Creative Director of R+Co envisions the event as an opportunity to round out the overall hairdressing culture of those in attendance. “We bring a lot of history to reinforce how important structure is to a career,” McLaren explains, “It’s our job to make people understand the history to move forward with more accuracy. I’m very excited about Electric House because we get to have people look inside the brain of the brand and share pure unconditional thoughts. We are willing to tell all, including the past and future of our journeys in the industry.” And he adds, “I think we have slipped into a comfort zone that is actually hurting the image of hairdressing. R+Co strives to help people think about how they learn and asking themselves, “why am I still doing something that might not be relevant anymore.

I would love to see a shift in how people enter the industry,” he continues, “with more technology involved in getting a license and classes on the history of hair, fashion, communication to give people the ability to explore beyond beauty.”

How do these experts envision the future of hairdressing? Each of these experts has his (or her) own  ideas and reflections. Ashley Streicher, Celebrity Hairstylist and R+Co Collective Member broods over the onset of the internet and social media. “I grew up having to fly overseas to Vidal Sassoon and get proper education, whereas now… you can go online,” she observes, “Styling information, even haircuts, are now online in video form immediately – which can be good and bad. Not all the information out there is credible.”

For the future, Ashley expects “to touch base with the consumer market more… to reach out to more than just my paying clients who are here in LA. I want people all over to be able to access my knowledge and to educate my philosophy in hairdressing. It’s an exciting time in this digital age, for people to individualize themselves through experimenting with their own look.

Thom Priano says, “We all wish we had a crystal ball to look into the future of hairdressing. Unfortunately we don’t… the world of Instagram, YouTube and Facebook has taken over!” Then on a more practical note he predicts, “Not only do you have to be good at your craft but you also need to be good at using the tools to promote yourself on these platforms. This is where people go to see your work before they even think about booking an appointment.”

Garren considers, “I think we’ve come to a place where everything has been done with haircutting and getting the natural look. I think there is going to be a twist where hairdressers are going to be experimenting with textures. There are going to be different levels of hairdressing. People will realize there is more to take the next step in the careers.

For more information aboout Electric House and to purchase tickets, please visit randco.ticketleap.com/electric-house/

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to Estetica's official newsletter and receive all the latest news and information from the world of hairdressing - no charge, spam free!

Search