Rising star of the international hairdressing scene Angelo Vallillo has broken new ground by becoming the first British hairdresser to win a place on the prestigious Sebastian Professional International Artist Team.
Multi-award winning Angelo, who has put his salon Zullo & Holland on the worldwide map and set up his own top-tier Angelo Vallillo Hair Academy, beat stiff competition from some of the world’s top hairdressing talents to join the 11-strong International Artist team and will now represent Sebastian globally at the brand’s events, shows, training courses and seminars.
The announcement came just as Angelo was named Salon Stylist of the Year by Britain’s leading consumer grooming title HAIR, making him the only stylist to win the title three times.
Already a global educator, Angelo has proven that those keen to learn will travel, attracting a wide variety of hair fans to his English-based Academy. But he’s also willing to travel himself, with recent gigs in Greece and Barcelona.
At the week-long auditions in Madrid in front of Sebastian Global Artistic Directors Shay Dempsey and Michael Polsinelli, Angelo impressed with his creative talents, his attitude and his belief that good hairdressers never stop learning. It’s an approach that has already brought him a string of major awards including Eastern Hairdresser of the Year at the British Hairdressing Awards two years in a row, Most Wanted Business Thinker in 2014 and Hair magazine’s Stylist of the Year title, again a title he has won twice.
Angelo was overjoyed to succeed after narrowly missing out on a place twice before. He said: “Auditioning for the team was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was a gruelling full-week audition, up against the very best, most experienced hairdressers in the world. The standards were so high. But to be named the first ever Brit on the team is an awesome feeling. I’m so excited about the future and the chance to work at this level of hairdressing. And I’ll be able to bring back all that experience and knowledge to share with other British hairdressers. I can’t wait.”
Paul Fensome, UK Education Manager for Sebastian Professional said: “Angelo showed a truly high level of artistic skills and enthusiasm as well as in-depth knowledge of Sebastian hair and product techniques. He’ll be a real asset to the team and will enjoy many amazing experiences. It’s a great accomplishment for Angelo and we are thrilled to have a UK stylist on the team.”