Global Zoom,the Goldwell and KMS world artistic event, wrapped up recently in Barcelona, Spain. Almost 3,000 stylists from all over the world came together in early October to experience two days full of inspiration, to share their passion, to learn from masters of their craft and to celebrate artistry. One of the numerous highlights of the two days was the world premiere of Goldwell’s Color Zoom '18 Collection ELEMENTAL.

WELCOME SESSION
The Global Zoom Event 2017 started with a welcome from Kao Salon Global Creative Director John Moroney and Global VP of Marketing Stephan Becker who shared the latest news from Goldwell and KMS.  In addition to Goldwell’s upcoming highlights (soon to be announced in early 2018), KMS shared an exciting update on their latest campaign “Genderless Grooming” featuring 3 new hybrid finishing products. Finally, the latest update from Kerasilk was unveiled – Kerasilk Style – a whole new category of luxury styling products to round out the Kerasilk portfolio.

COLOR ZOOM CHALLENGE
Following the Welcome Session, the race was on for the Color Zoom Challenge where hairdressers from all over the world demonstrate their creativity and their interpretation of the current Goldwell Color Zoom Collection. The Global Gold Winners of the three different categories (Partner, Creative & New Talent) become a part of the Global Color Zoom Creative Team. This year 97 national finalists from 38 different countries interpreted the IN·FLUXCollection and represented their countries at the Color Zoom Live Final, where they competed live and simultaneously with just 3 hours to cut, color and style their models in front of 3,000 of their fellow international stylists.

ARTIST SESSIONS
The inspiring Artist Sessions offeredguests from all over the world the opportunity to experience mastery of their craft. The Master Design Team presented fashion-forward designs from Goldwell’s signature programs, focusing on pure shape, design and color. Global Haircutting Ambassador Jay Mahmood was supported by talents from the Master Colorist Program, Master Stylist Program and the new Master Texture Program.

Afterwards Australia’s Most Awarded Hairdresser stepped out onto the stage: Shane Henning, Creative Director and owner of Noddys on King in Sydney. His team shared their latest creations.

GALA SHOW & AFTER PARTY
The Gala Show was the perfect end to the first day of the Global Zoom Event in Barcelona. The Global Zoom audience was privileged to be the first to see the new Color Zoom Collection live on stage and the assembled hairdressers were treated to a live presentation of the new Color Zoom collection: ELEMENTAL. Created by the winners of last year’s Color Zoom Challenge, the collection is characterized by the fusion of technology with creativity and the interplay of rawness and refinement. Tone-on-tone colors play with contrasts and modern minimalistic shapes bring a rough, primal edge for a future-forward styling.

The three Global Gold Winners of the Color Zoom Challenge were then announced:

• Maxim Sotnikov from Russia in the New Talent category –  for young, creative colorists with less than five years of professional experience.

• Dylan Tung from Singapore in the Creative category – for color creations done by stylists with more than five years experience.

• Mio Sota from USA in the Partner category –  for color creations designed by stylists who have already worked for Goldwell since the last two years at shows or at seminars.

STYLISTS’ FAVORITE AWARD
Maarten Schapendonk from Netherlands (Partner category) won the Stylists’ Favorite Award, together with Futoun Ahmed Hakim from United Arab Emirates (Creative category) and Lydia Wolfe from UK (New Talent category). The Goldwell Stylists’ Favorite Awards are a set of awards linked to the Color Zoom Challenge. The special feature of these awards is that anyone, anywhere in the world, is able to participate via an online platform and is able to choose their favorite entry in each category, from all of the National Gold Winners.

COLOR ZOOM HALL OF FAME
This year marked the debut of an additional series of awards during the Gala Show – the Color Zoom Hall of Fame. This award is dedicated to recognizing former Color Zoom winners who have used the Color Zoom as a platform for advancing their career. It was a very emotional moment when the first two members of the Color Zoom Hall of Fame were announced: Agnes Westerman from the Netherlands, winner of the Elumen Awards (the predecessor of Color Zoom) and Mario Krankl from Austria for his dedication and mentorship of Color Zoom teams throughout the last decade.

ARTIST SESSIONS and FAREWELL PARTY
In the course of the MBE Salon Business Panel, Kao Salon’s Global President Cory Couts discussed the importance and the opportunities of Social Media for salons with journalists from the UK and Netherlands, including MODERN Editor in Chief Alison Alhamed. The group shared their tips and tricks for salon success.

The KMS Global Style Council offered initial insights in the new KMS 2018 Campaign featuring the best of HighSTYLE and StreetSTYLE from the new global hotspots Amsterdam, Melbourne and San Francisco. The KMS Style Council is composed of Simon Miller (USA), Sam Burnett (UK), Lori Panarello (USA), Robert Mrosek (Germany), Garreth Lenagh (AUS) and Kenny Chow (TW). This year the team was joined by special guest Edwin Johnston, KMS Global Amabassador.

Afterwards, the Color Zoom '17 Creative Team gave an insight into the ELEMENTAL Collection: Global Winners from 2016 Larissa Bresnehan, Sargis Airapetian and Daniel Rubin, along with Goldwell International Artists Agnes Westerman and Sascha Haseloff, presented the technical insight of the Color Zoom '18 Collection.

The Farewell Party took place in three of Barcelona’s hippest seaside clubs in the beach area of Barceloneta and was the crowning finale of the Global Zoom Event 2017.

THE FINAL WORD
“I can’t think of a better or more inspirational way to come together with our top clients from around the world than the Global Zoom Event," says John Moroney, Vice President Education and Global Creative Director, KAO Salon Division. "Every year it is a global gathering of some of the most creative stylists in the industry – sharing creativity and community in an inspirational city.  For Kao Salon Division, it gives us the opportunity to continually demonstrate our commitment to partnering with salons and stylists worldwide and helping them to grow their business.”

MODERN met with Partner winner Mio Sota immediately after winning her award. Check out this short video (and pardon the fuzzy first 40 seconds - it clears up!) to learn details of the GOLD look: