The Schwarzkopf Professional Young Artistic Team (YATs) brings together some of the most gifted, emerging hairdressing talent from across the UK and Ireland for a year-long mentoring programme, designed to nurture and develop the stars of the future.
Having already impressed the judges with an online entry, the successful 14 finalists were invited to the nerve-wracking live final where they worked hard to showcase their skill, techniques and creativity. Pro Hair’s Tabitha Shannon was joined on the judging panel by Session Stylist Ellie Bond and Celebrity Hair Colourist Kris Barnes.
With total creative freedom, the finalists had one hour to create a look that displayed their talent – the only rule being that a minimum of 5cm must be cut from the models’ hair. This gave the young stylists free rein to produce styles that combined their creative aesthetics with their technical skills. Makeup and clothes choices were also taken into account within the judging process.
Once the models were complete, each hairdresser was tasked with presenting their final look and mood board to the judges, giving them the opportunity to explain the inspirations for their look, as well as detailing their technical and artistic processes. Despite the nerves, each of the finalists demonstrated an abundance of creativity and passion, reflecting the wealth of talent coming into the industry right now.
The new team were selected based not only on their finished model looks, but their knowledge, presentation skills and enthusiasm to immerse themselves in a year of education and opportunities.
Pro Hair’s Tabitha comments on the day: “It was such a pleasure to represent Pro Hair Magazine at the Young Artistic Team finals last week. Judging for Schwarzkopf Pro was so enjoyable and I was so impressed with all of the young talent. The finalists demonstrated endless amounts of creativity and confidence, and I can’t wait to see all of the great things they get up to over the year ahead!”
Ellie Bond also stated: “This was my second year judging the YATs, and what a fantastic lineup we had! I love seeing the finalists’ interpretations of different looks and understanding their creative process, but my favourite part of the day is the interview and hearing all about their inspirations and goals. Each one brought so much passion and the standard was so high, so our job was very hard. I’m super excited to see the new team’s journey ahead, and follow their progression over the year.”
Kris Barnes added: “I had such a fun day judging for Schwarzkopf Pro and helping them to create the 2023 YAT team. It was so hard to select the final six because there were so many stunning looks from 14 undoubtably, very talented hairdressers.”
Schwarzkopf Professional are delighted to announce the six hairdressing stars that will make up their Young Artistic Team for 2023…
To see more of what the Young Artistic Team get up to this year, be sure to follow @SKPYAT on Instagram to keep up to date!
