THE EVENT:

Aveda Congress. THE VENUE: Northrop Auditorium at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

THE DETAILS: Aveda hosted its 14th Congress festival, a day and a half of presentations by some of the world's greatest hairdressing talents, followed by an afternoon of ateliers and workshops by Aveda creative artists and educators. Aveda's Global Creative Director Antoinette Beenders embodied Aveda "greenness" with recycled hair formed into shapes and affixed to backcombed hair on models wearing gowns made of recycled plastic bags. She wrapped natural hair wefts around cardboard pom-poms and finished them with a fur-like texture. Her deceptively easy-looking, razor technique took long hair to a close-cropped bob. Ray Civello, creative director of Aveda Canada, presented "Made in Canada," a collection of styles created with his salon team that reflected the Aveda mission. Van Council of Van Michael Salon in Atlanta eschewed professional models for "real people" for whom he created transformations based on facial shape, natural hair color and skin tone. Japanese salon owner Kozo Ohnuma took the stage with styles inspired bytraditional Japanese culture and fashion. David Adams, technical artistic director, dared the audience to imagine a "world without color." After showing models in shades gray, Adams brought color to the stage by using an airbrush to spray paint hair sections with brilliant color. Kurt Kueffner, director of men's education presented the latest men's looks, from Europe. "Let's get crack'n," said famed editorial stylist Christiaan who demonstrated "the crack," a parting shaved down the back of the head giving the wearer the option of sporting a bare strip or shaking their hair back in place to hide it. The audience was sold on the look and flocked to the stage to "get cracked" by Christiaan.

THE BUZZ: Congress marked Aveda's 30th anniversary and celebrated "Thirty Years of Living the Aveda Mission," a commitment to wellness, eco-friendly practices, the use of renewable resources and partnerships with indigenous people.
THE LAST WORD: "Happy Birthday, Aveda" was spoken, shouted and sung for the camera in a closing video montage of Aveda well wishers.

Aveda President Dominique Conseil and veteran employee and spiritual guide Shiv Nath Tandon opened Congress with a traditional Thanksgiving ceremony.

Antoinette Beenders created a unique bun using recycled hair formed around a pompom and clipped to a fur-like texture.

Global make-up Director Rudy Miles joins Prince Tashka Yawanawa, leader of the Yawanawa people of Brazil, in a traditional welcoming ceremony.

Ray Civello and his team presented their "Made in Canada" collection.

Van Council demonstrated the finer points of a scalp massage in prepping his model.

Koza Ohnuma styled several models in the traditional Japanese fashion.

Global Technical Director David Adams used an airbrush to create bold panels of color.

An intrepid audience member came on stage to get an impromptu cut from the great session artist Christiaan.

Antoinette Beenders finds new ways to backcomb hair and apply hair pieces as "ratted" hair, à la Amy Winehouse, is turning up on London streets.

David Adams' bold airbrush techniques yield large sections of bold color that blend for a beautiful finish.

Kozo is seeing less color and more perms in his Tokyo salons.

Men's hair is getting longer in Europe, a sure sign that the new, more defined and groomed looks will be popular here as well, predicts Kurt Kueffner, director of men's education for Aveda.