MEET KIT DVLPMNT
MEET KIT DVLPMNT
| For the first time ever, say hello to our KIT DVLPMNT Team!
After widespread support and applications we are so excited to share the five forces of KIT DVLPMNT, our initiative for rising talent within our industry. Without further ado, say hello to… (drum roll)
What we love about Zofija She is energetic and confident, pro activism (like us). Zofija is an openly proud trans woman in the hairdressing industry. She nurtures her clients so that they can feel loved and safe when they are with her. She is definitely one to watch — we love everything about her!
With powerful role models like Lulu Richards, Jennifer is in good company in bringing more female representation to salon owners. A woman of many talents with an organic and light-hearted approach to hair Jennifer is the embodiment of KIT’s love for all things girl power.
Orla is a trailblazer and a rising talent — with her fresh, open take on hair and education as well as kick-ass cutting skills – Orla embraces curls and texture. Hailing from Wildflower Studio, Dublin she values openness and collaboration at the core of her work as an aspiring hair educator.
A talented hair colourist with a cause — John is a freehand balayage artist with a unique flare that stands out. Since getting qualified and getting on the floor at age 19, John has been making his mark in the industry, including being one of two apprentices representatives advocating for legislative change to implement Afro/textured hair education added to the Level 2 apprenticeship curriculum.
Rheanna is breaking the mold as a logical and creative hairdresser. After entering the industry in 2016 from working as a certified accountant she is making a mark in the industry through her pursuit of creating a deeper understanding of the niche market of mixed-race hair types. We are excited to see more diversity and inclusivity enter our industry with Rheanna as a force of change.
We want to say a huge thank you to all that applied, with over 40 applications it was indeed a hard decision – stay tuned for news about them and our next KIT DVLPMNT call-out. We’re excited to see this team grow and flourish as the future talent of our industry. |
THE AESTHETIC GAP: LOST IN TRANSLATION
THE AESTHETIC GAP: LOST IN TRANSLATION
At KIT we are interested in looking at social media trends, and pushing and driving macro trends in the beauty space. We previously touched on how TikTok style aesthetics and style cores could influence hair services.
Styles such as the Clean Girl Aesthetic have managed to enter macro trends with claw clips, gold hoops, and slicked-back hair trending on a global scale. These aesthetics have also breathed new life into hairstyles such as the mullet, curtain bangs, and different renditions of layers from Air-cuts, and C-cuts to shags and wolf-cuts.
However, rather than look at it from a consumer perspective, we would like to dig deeper and find out just how these trends are affecting hair services from an industry perspective. Our first research unveiled that perhaps these trends are still micro trends and haven’t yet merged into the mainstream — social media hype and buzz doesn’t always translate into macro trends and some trends are lived out through social media.
As these aesthetic trends are driven by content creators and user-generated content there is little professional hair backing, so what to the ordinary eye could be described as a neutral vanilla-toned blonde, could be defined differently from a professional hair colourist. Perhaps there is a communication gap/ things are missing in translation and the Vanilla Girl Aesthetic isn’t even Vanilla Blonde at all but a cool-toned champagne blonde.
Another avenue to investigate is in understanding the demographics following these trends. As of January 2023, it was recorded by TikTok that 60% of their users are between the ages of 16-24, and 26% are between the ages of 25-44. 80% are between the ages of 16-34. That means TikToks audience is predominantly composed of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millenials. Whilst Millennials are the largest demographic in the US and have a spending power worth $2.5 trillion, the demographic that could be following these trends the most are Gen Z and Gen Alpha who do not have a spending power as high as Millenials hence why this trend hasn’t become the macro trend it could be.
However, TikTok’s views on these aesthetics and style trends could be an indicator for the future to come. If these trends are going viral reaching over a billion views on TikTok — how will that translate 5 years later when Gen Alpha and Gen X are older and will have more spending power to participate in these trends?
Hair experts, we would love to know your thoughts on this trend gap.
WHY ARE HUMANISED BUSINESSES WINNING?
WHY ARE HUMANISED BUSINESSES WINNING?
Humanising businesses lies in putting people at the centre of a company’s intentions rather than money. What does that mean?
Prioritising your team and your customers through creating an environment of understanding that people matter and that business is personal, in all its interactions and teamwork it needs to run synchrony and harmoniously.
People power businesses and awareness, compassion, and empathy power people. Culture and cultivating awareness are some of the most powerful tools to humanise a business nowadays – awareness starts with an understanding of the way your energy affects others and understanding the bigger picture without letting the ego create all the motives and intentions.
Our founder, Karrie, explained “humanised businesses are the way forward because people want to be part of something bigger and they need to feel that they are part of something that works for them, it’s all about the people and the culture that is created. Hustle culture and owner-oriented business models just don’t resonate with people anymore.”
Why? Because of how our society is growing and evolving – Millennials and Gen Z are now the biggest global generation, making up 64% of the world’s population affecting not just consumer behaviour but also challenging the status quo of our societal values. Humanised business cultures are closing the generational gap for both the people working within businesses and the consumers supporting them.
While salary is the most important factor in deciding on a job, Gen Z values salary less than every other generation, they care about values. Companies must demonstrate their commitment to a broader set of societal challenges such as sustainability, climate change, and hunger. Some of the values that are most valuable to a business for employees are characteristics such as being; socially conscious, technology-focused, ethnically diverse, experience-driven, health-conscious, and financially and spiritually conscious.
And the benefits of humanised businesses? A healthy culture is a fertile place for business growth and this is what the industry needs especially in approaches to issues such as the decline in apprentices coming through the system. Looking at the bigger picture in the grand scheme of our industry’s growth and progression. “There has to be a paradigm shift on how businesses are seen and where the priority should be. We can see that this is a business model that is both modern and successful in paving the way forward to a closer-knit, more diverse, and inclusive industry cultivating and growing its younger generation of talent.”
KIT 2023 TECH PREDICTIONS AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR BEAUTY
KIT 2023 TECH PREDICTIONS AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR BEAUTY
These days, hair care products are high-tech and science-focused. Last year was the era of skincare-focused, scalp-forward hair care, but this might be the year of tech in all things beauty. Just one example?
As the wave of buzz about the Metaverse ebbs and flows, we are gaining more insight and understanding of this murky digital world and its capacity to be a vessel for change. One sector of technology that could revolutionise our approach to haircare as well as push a more sustainable beauty industry is Biotechnology. The shift towards clean beauty emphasised the use of more naturally derived and plant-based ingredients, however much research has unveiled this to be an unsustainable practice.
What exactly is Biotechnology? It is defined as the exploitation of biological processes to create ingredients. A subsect of biotech that is buzzing right now is white biotechnology which is devoted to utilising living microorganisms and enzymes to synthesise energy-saving, easier degradable products and is taking over the perfume industry making it much more sustainable. Did you know, an estimated 200.00 roses are needed to produce only a few millilitres of rose oil?
So how will biotechnology revolutionise haircare? It can lead to sustainable product innovation, give greater insight and understanding of hair and how to care for it, and could possibly push a new approach to hair care. Upcycling is a concept we are becoming more aware of and it is coming in strong for the beauty industry. The Upcycled Beauty Company has launched a new active ingredient aimed at hair care – The Faba TONIQ, a water-soluble by-product of hummus production.
Yes, you read that correctly, this by-product of hummus production has been coined “the new natural, upcycled hair-styling active for super-sleek, long-lasting curls.” This upcycled active is a source of protein, peptides, polypeptides, and carbohydrates that help to strengthen and condition the hair. A combination of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides makes the curl retention long-lasting and provides frizz control even in humid environments.
Another concept being deeply studied by biotech is the concept of hair memory which could create a shift in hair care becoming more focused on maintaining or adapting hair’s memory – that’s where companies like Arey come in, using its vitamin-, mineral-, and antioxidant-rich formula to reverse hair aging on a cellular level. The team isolated peptide—amino acid chains that form proteins typically synonymous with skin and hair health like collagen, elastin, and keratin. When applied topically to the skin, and in this case the scalp, the peptides act as little messengers, triggering cells to perform specific functions such as building collagen, elastin, and keratin, encouraging hair and skin to look and act younger, thus slowing the greying of hair.
We’re quite excited to see the innovation of biotechnology in hair care, it’s here to change the status quo.
IS TOXIC DIET CULTURE BACK?
IS TOXIC DIET CULTURE BACK IN 2023?
A quick scroll on social media search of terms like “body positivity” suggests that we are making progress toward greater body diversity and positivity. As a society, we have come a long way since the nonfat, heroin-chic, pro-ana Tumblr days. Or have we?
Diet culture has become much more nuanced making it more subtle, and harder to notice but all the same, still prevalent. New diets such as the Ozempic diet which was intended to help treat diabetes, and can lower blood sugar, and encourage insulin production, have recently gone viral as a weight-loss drug popular in Hollywood. Words such as ‘Pilates body’ and trending styles such as the ‘Ballerina-core’ have negative connotations on body image – raising the question of what is a pilates body even “supposed” to look like.
This rise in the Y2K aesthetic comes alongside a much deeper messaging other than style. It is no coincidence this fresh interest in pursuing a thinner body is spiking at the same time that publications such as the NY Post published an article headlined: “Bye Bye Booty, heroin chic is back”. Young women are swapping Brazilian butt lifts for buccal fat removal in an effort to achieve more defined and pronounced cheekbones.
While all this is happening, we are happy to see the increase in body positivity, not just in fashion campaigns but also on social media with more influencers sharing body-positive, unedited content. In fact, research, co-authored by Dr. Fardouly, found brief exposure to such content on Instagram improved women’s body satisfaction and mood.
“We see this strategy as a micro-intervention—a small change we can make to improve people’s experiences on social media and how they feel about themselves in everyday life,” Dr. Fardouly says. “In the current study, just one post a day was potentially enough to induce positive effects. More exposure may be even more effective.”
WHO ACTUALLY HAS THE INFLUENCE IN THE HAIR INDUSTRY?
WHO ACTUALLY HAS THE INFLUENCE IN THE HAIR INDUSTRY?
Influence is an important currency not just in our industry but in how trends and culture shifts — influence is something fundamental to younger demographics such as Gen Z and Gen X, they understand that a united front has the power to create change. Social influence has brought much meaningful change to issues such as diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability in our industry. This time around, rather than looking to influencers and industry figures, we’ll be breaking down how institutions and hierarchy have a role in influencing how diverse and inclusive our industry can be and how their influence trickles down into our society moulding the future generations to come.
Influence is a two-way transaction, from the masses to upper management and vice versa, these days we are much more vigilant of the people calling the shots and the select few sitting in influential positions and what they do with their power. We have read many articles about brands and associations implementing diversity committees to eliminate unconscious biases in industries such as the film and fashion industry which have suffered numerous diversity faux pas especially when it comes to awards and spotlighting talent. However, how effective has it really been and is it effective if the systems and legislation makers are biassed?
Industries such as music, beauty, and arts are still predominantly dominated by cis-gendered white men – this year The Brit awards gender-neutral award nominees are only white male nominees and The Oscars have no Black actors nominated in the lead acting categories and women shut out for best director.
So what does this mean in the hair industry? The select few who sit in seats of power are the decision-makers who mold our industry and highlight the movers and shakers who become the faces of our industry. This has a great social impact on issues within our industry — in a world where representation is so essential for young dreamers . The industry is only now entering a space where women, POC and LGBTQ+ identifying persons are getting more representation and accolades within the industry. However, are they being given the same opportunities to sit in influential positions to create a more diverse and inclusive industry?