Intercoiffure Mondial organized its annual event over two days in Barcelona under the influence of the art and legacy of the brilliant Antoni Gaudí.
The programme included a chilled welcome party at the famous Shôko Beach Club, the election of the Intercoiffure Mondial President for the next three years, the festive ‘Chevalerie’ awards ceremony, a keynote speech, hair fashion shows and the unveiling of the latest Intercoiffure collection ‘The Age of Elegance’.
Under the title ‘¡Oh my Gaudí!’, 300 Intercoiffure members and beauty experts from 32 countries celebrated international hair fashion power. Glowing mosaic tiles in orange, yellow and red – and an azure sky. Barcelona shone in a sea of colour. Plus the magnificent buildings by the master of architecture: Antoni Gaudí. Just the right metropolis to celebrate the harmonious interplay of colours and shapes.
Intercoiffure Mondial hosted its magnificent ‘¡Oh my Gaudí!’ congress at the 5-star Sofitel Barcelona Skipper hotel on the last weekend in May. The credo: Fashion meets beautiful hair and combines it with outstanding education – that is Intercoiffure Mondial with its craftsmanship of the ‘World’s Leading Hairdressers’. The weekend began with an exclusive welcome party on the beach at the famous Shôko Barcelona, one of the five best clubs in the world. Here, the reunion was celebrated, a flamenco show was cheered on and dancing continued into the night. And: Intercoiffure Mondial President Peter F. Pfister welcomed the new member countries: Indonesia and The Netherlands.
The highlight of the General Assembly on Sunday was the election of the President of Intercoiffure Mondial until 2027. The delegates from seven regions voted by a large majority in favour of the incumbent President: Congratulations to Peter F. Pfister from Austria! “I am honoured and thank you for the trust you have placed in my work,” said Pfister. “I will put all my energy into making our symbol, the Intercoiffure star, shine even brighter in all countries. We will soon be introducing new concepts that combine fashion and education, continuing the MasterBarber programme and preparing a spectacular world congress in Hamburg next year to celebrate Intercoiffure Mondial’s 100th birthday. Let’s grow together and create magical moments.“
The President is supported by strong industry partners such as L’Oréal, Goldwell, Oribe, Aderans, GW Cosmetics, Milbon, Graham Hill, Wella Professionals, Schwarzkopf Professional, Hairfax and Oba, who share their innovative ideas with around 2000 Intercoiffure members from the six regions of Oceania, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America and Nordic. “The worldwide creative exchange and support in the salon business makes us unique“, says Peter F. Pfister.
As a global association, Intercoiffure Mondial is also aware of its social responsibility. The charity programme ‘Education for Life’ gives disadvantaged young people the chance to receive a qualified education. There are now several schools running now in South Africa, Uruguay, Brazil, India, Romania, Bosnia and Ukraine – most recently a project was launched in Cambodia.
Hamburg trend researcher Oliver Leisse took the participants on an inspiring journey of thought in his presentation ‘This is how the future works!’. The expert founded one of the first online market research companies in Germany 25 years ago and specialises in the development of market trends. His presentation focussed on the use of artificial intelligence through to robotics and new customer requirements. Oliver Leisse showed what customers really want. And he scrutinised: How does technology affect the hairdressing industry? For example, AI can be used to send personalised appointment reminders to customers. His reassuring conclusion: AI will not be able to replace the craft of hairdressing.
Four young stylists who won the Fondation Guillaume’s photo competition showed just how committed and enthusiastic they are about the hairdressing profession. They wowed the audience with their show ‘The Future Superstars’. They showed casual long hair looks with playful braids and lots of texture or wet styling with elegant contours. And their future plans for 2034? ‘Maybe to be a star stylist in Hollywood.’
The gala evening began with a cocktail reception on the pool terrace before an exquisite 4-course dinner. An award ceremony honoured long-standing, esteemed members and Intercoiffure France was named ‘Section of the Year’. Freddy Mercury and Montserrat Caballé sang their anthem to Barcelona on a giant video screen, providing the soundtrack to the show by Intercoiffure Spain, starred by Manuel Mon and Rafael Bueno, powered by Revlon Professional. The Spaniards presented artistic styling with filigree hair accessories, rocking wild mullets in pastel colours and diva waves in emerald green.
The show by Intercoiffure Germany was also all about beautiful colour creations. They invited guests to a ‘Rendez-vous with future you’, a presentation powered by L’Oréal Professionnel Paris: Milky hair is a mega trend among celebrities. Milky blonde is popular with celebrities and on TikTok and has gone viral; the techniques for this are ‘air touch balayage’ and ‘melt balayage’. And every fashion statement needs a counter-trend: Black Cherry are shiny black colourations with dark cherry tone effects.
The unveiling of the new Intercoiffure Mondial collection ‘The Age of Elegance’ was eagerly awaited. Vice President Markus Herrmann presented four hair fashion trends: Pure White, Conscious Traveller, Blissful Blue and Orange Crush. With these groundbreaking fashion statements, Intercoiffure Mondial declares: The post-pandemic craziness is over – welcome to the ‘Age of Elegance’. Elegance is a question of the art of living, it’s about exquisite taste that lasts and is particularly sustainable and cultivated. Slow fashion is the order of the day. Intercoiffure Mondial’s global fashion team from seven regions around the world has come together to create an artful new collection. And a guiding principle of the grandiose architect Antoni Gaudi is also exactly right for this collection: ‘Colour in certain places has the great value of making the contours and structural planes appear full of energy’.
The ‘¡Oh My Gaudí!’ event ended with an invitation to the 100th anniversary of Intercoiffure Mondial in Hamburg: from 31 May to 3 June 2025, the German Hanseatic city will open its doors to the crème de la crème of international hairdressing to celebrate the Intercoiffure Mondial World Congress under the motto ‘A century of excellence in hair art and fashion’.
Credits Photos event: Maik Logodzki / Credits Photos The Age of Elegance: Mario Naegler / Copyright: Intercoiffure Mondial