Styling and color: Chrystofer Benson, Todd Kane
Photography: Christos Sewell
Fashion: Robert Black
Styling: Dani Astroga
Make-up: M’jaie Magnus
Assistants: Greta Coston, Erwin Sapoa and Penrose Academy students
When Matrix launched the Spread the Love program, it quickly proved to be the mentorship of a lifetime as, each year, six recent cosmetology graduates were invited to travel state to state, salon to salon, and event to event, sharing their passion and spreading their love for the industry, all while being mentored by Matrix Artistic Directors.
STL 2012 member Todd Kane was lucky enough to be mentored by Artistic Director Chrystofer Benson, whose passion for the beauty industry extends beyond working on his loyal clientele, and also into the world of editorial hair styling (Benson has earned countless awards for his photoshoot work). No doubt this inspired Kane to enter the 2013 North American Hairstyling Awards where he was a finalist in the Newcomer category.
Kane and Benson’s journey together didn’t end after the six-month tour. In fact, their bond is stronger now than ever before. For this collection shown exclusively in MODERN, Benson and Kane collaborated as peers, rather than a mentor/mentee relationship—resulting in The Spectrum Collection seen on these pages, which takes us on a journey through the color spectrum pairing classics with contemporaries.
The team, which included students from Kane’s alma mater, Penrose Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona, was inspired by the vintage texture seen in the fashion, which features movement on multiple levels: through the lines, color graduation, placement, texture and styling.
“The idea is to play with the colors as they lay in the spectrum,” the team says. “Blocking, melting and foiling with synergy in combinations to enhance the cut, texture and styling spectrum story."
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