Thank you to all our team, clients and models who have worked with us and shared our creative journey over the past 30 years. Special thanks to L’Oréal who have worked with us and always supported us. A personal thanks to my directors and great friends Yesmin O’Brien, Lynn Hickey and Louise Curtis. And most importantly a huge thanks to my personal and business partner and

Creative Director, Skyler McDonald.

Special thanks to the artists and companies who continue to creatively support us: Mauro Carraro, Trevor Leighton, Cheryl Phelps Gardiner, Bernard Connolly, Chris Chudleigh, Mandy Hynes

L’Oréal, Balmain and Catalyst.

Sean and Skyler

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I remember messing around in the school class room with a friend of mine, Greig. He had an uncle who was a hairdresser and he was going to work with him - I remember thinking that I would hate to have a job like that. I knew exactly what I wanted to be - I wanted to be an airline pilot. At the age of

14 I joined the Air Cadets and every few months we went out to an airfield near Reading and I got to fly Chipmunks. These were old war planes. I guess they were made available to the cadets to learn how to fly as they were not good for anything else! It was a single engined, two seater, with one seat behind the other, not side by side. So when I was having my lesson, my tutor sat behind me which made me feel like I was totally in control. The joystick still had the gun button on it. It was easy for a 14 year old boy with a vivid imagination to believe he really was a hero saving the world. But when I came to leave school I didn’t want to join the RAF and I didn’t have the qualifications to enter the commercial aircraft college.

So I guess I drifted into accountancy. No real reason other than I was reasonable at maths and it sounded like a good profession. But it wasn’t long before I realised that it wasn’t for me. I had no passion for it and therefore little commitment. Around that time I had a girlfriend who was working

as a hairdressing junior in the Kings Road, Chelsea. I used to pick her up after work sometimes and found myself loving the atmosphere of the salon. I loved how the stylists could dress cool, didn’t have to wear suits, they could listen to music ( Pink Floyd!) all day long while getting to have fun with their clients. So in a radical move, I went home and had a chat with my parents. “I THINK I wANT To Be A HAIRdReSSeR!”- their take was that if I was happy, that was what mattered. we had a discussion about how I would have very little money for a few years while training and they of course as always, were amazingly supportive.

So that was that. I gave up my then current job and started an apprenticeship with a salon in Sloane Square. After a few months I realised that I had stumbled into something that I was both good at and really enjoyed. I worked hard, trained hard and within 18 months I was managing a salon on the Kings Road. of course I was desperate to break out and build my own empire. In those days there weren’t many opportunities to have a franchise so I decided to open my own salon. After a few aborted tries and a few disasters, I ended up with my very first salon in worcester Park High St. I had this belief that the people of worcester Park would love my creative and high-end style of hairdressing. Sadly this was not the case. Not >

At the age of 14, I joined the Air Cadets

With Mum & Dad - Always such a

support!

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So here we go with the embarrassing pictures. I was

wearing a sleeveless suit that was designed by my

late brother Paul. It looked a bit ‘gangster’ so I did a slick

back for a laugh - not so funny now though!!

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at first anyway. It took a few years to gain the trust of a new wave of clients, but I did stay true to my own vision and eventually the salon became one of Surrey’s destination salons and our reputation started to spread. From the beginning we ran the salon as a proper business. we developed a good relationship with our local Natwest Bank in worcester Park and as much as banks always get a shed load of criticism, our own experience was that they were always pretty supportive when we wanted to grow and develop our business.

It was soon very apparent that if I was to truly excel, it would always be important to surround myself with people who were the best at what they do. one of the people I met back then was a budding salon designer called Melvyn Allen. His dad had been a hairdresser in Streatham, one of the many places I had lived as a child growing up. I worked with Mel on our first proper salon fit in worcester Park. we got on well together and he has done all our salons ever since.

To be honest I wasn’t that interested in the business of the business. I just wanted to be the best. I wanted to do the best haircuts, have the best team, have the best salons and be the most creative hairdresser. It was definitely the creative journey that really excited me. In those days professional hair

colour was just becoming popular. It was relatively new and we were keen to work with the best colour brand on the market. we started to work closely with L’oréal who were considered to be the UK’s number one professional brand. we liked them, they liked us and understood what we were trying to do. They then started to ask us to present our techniques to other L’oréal customers. For me it was my first taste of platform work. It was a great ego boost but after a while I soon understood that having to ‘perform’ in front of other salon owners and other hairdressers made me better. It was a pressure thing I guess. Also as I would share an idea, I would have this immense pressure to come up with a new idea to take the place of the one I had now given away. It was always important to stay one step ahead. So while many of our competitors were always trying to keep their success recipes a secret, we were always open and sharing. I think it was this process that was one of the main catalysts for our growth.

In spite of the fact that we weren’t really focused on the money, we were doing oK. I had a good client who was an accountant. we used to talk business while I cut his hair and after a while he started doing our books for us. But perhaps more importantly he used to give me lots of pep talks and advice and he encouraged me to look to >

Our first salon in Worcester Park although our smallest, is still one

of our best.

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An early Melvyn Allen fit out in our Epsom Salon.

Mainly grey and black with a touch of pink - but it was

cutting edge!

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the future. He encouraged me to be one of the first hair salons in the UK to become ‘computerised’. I had never used or been interested in computers at all. He said that I would need to master this new technology if I was to stay ahead of the game. So he sold me a computer system (about £7000!!) and although it was a small fortune at the time, it probably was one of the most significant business advantages we had. while most of our competitors were still using pen and paper, we were doing our wages, payroll, producing performance figures for our team and analysing our database to study trends. But perhaps the most important thing that Jim encouraged me to do was to invest in property, buying the properties in which we had our salons. when I look back at people who genuinely made a massive impact on us and our long term success, Jim was certainly one of them. But in spite of our growing focus on the business, it was still the creative element that was the main interest to me. I also started to realise that if we were ever to genuinely have a leading brand, we would need a great team and this would mean having great training. So we started to learn how to develop our own education. And I think that, as time has gone on our education has become perhaps one of the most significant parts of our business and is one of the elements that excites me the most. It was through this passion for education that we started

to develop our own signature haircuts and colours, something that continues to give us an important edge in what has become a very competitive business.

The first show we did for our clients was in the Stoneleigh pub. we planned for 75 clients to come and see it but ended up with 150 people turning up. I can’t say it was our finest moment but it gave us our first insight into how we could inspire both our clients and our team with these types of events. over the following years, we created larger more ambitious events sometimes attracting up to 2000 clients who came to see us showing our latest looks and styles. It also helped us to raise a significant amount of money for local charities.

It was around this time that we also began to experiment with photography. It occurred to me that I could do the most amazing haircut or hairstyle, but only a handful of people would ever get to see it. But if we photographed it, we could maybe get thousands of people to see it and therefore be inspired by it. one of my best friends from when I was at school, was Mauro Carraro. He was by then a pretty famous photographer specialising in photographing The Royal Family. I persuaded him to help us do some experimental photoshoots and also to teach me how to use a camera. we

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Raising money for Tadworth Children’s

trust.

Early long hair seminar

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started having some great fun together and over a number of years I started to win a large number of awards for the work we were producing. The thing I love about creating images to photograph is that it pushes us to aim for perfection in what we do. Also great photographs become a source of inspiration for both our team and our clients. These days, my partner Skyler tends to produce most of our main hair collections. But I still take some of her photos or shoot our videos. In a way it is our photos that have best defined who we were and who we are. And in this magazine I have selected a few of the images that I feel illustrate our creative progression over the years.

I have divided them into our early years, our mid years and our current collections. Some are quite embarrassing to look back on now, but they were relevant at the time. Most of our models back then were either very young clients or daughters of our clients.

As a rule I am not one for looking back that much. I like to stay focused on where we are going. There is always so much that we want to do and I love the journey now as much, maybe even more, than I did when we first started out. But as it is our 30th anniversary celebration, it seemed like a good time to stop and reflect on the journey.

one of the things that has been fun while doing this is remembering all the different team members that have worked with us and helped us on our way. on the whole we have been extremely lucky with our teams and we have consistently attracted good people with good ethics and this has helped us enjoy some wonderful achievements.

we have also been lucky with our clients too. In many ways we choose our clients as much as they choose us. I decided a long time ago that I don’t want just anyone as a client. I know this sounds mad from a business perspective, but for me it’s always been important to attract clients who genuinely care about their hair. I want clients that want to look good, want great haircuts and great colours. It’s important to me that it matters to a client, where he or she gets their hair cut. If it doesn’t matter to them, then there are a lot of other salons out there that can cater for them. Many of our clients have been with us for years and we still have a significant number of clients who have been with us since we first opened.

At the end of the day, it’s all about relationships. Relationships with clients, our team, our suppliers and anyone we come in contact with. And while many relationships have lasted since we started, it isn’t always about the length of the relationship >

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On show at the Epsom Playhouse

Theatre

Working on early photoshoot.....

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as much as the quality of it. In many ways things are very different today compared to when we first opened that first salon. But in other ways, the fundamentals are exactly the same. Great hairdressers want to work in great salons. They want to be inspired, motivated and have access to the best education possible. Clients want to have a good relationship not just with their individual hairdresser but with their salon brand. They like to feel proud of their salon. Unlike many other businesses, the emotional connection between hairdressers and their clients can be pretty intense.

For me personally I still love going around all the salons and just talking to both my teams and clients. our ‘innercircle’ has also been a great way to stay in touch with people, letting them know what we are doing or what we are up to. In this 30th year magazine, I hope that it will bring a few smiles. I guess, looking back, that we have always been about creativity. Perhaps a little obsessive even. But perhaps that’s the thing that makes our brand unique and special. I hope you enjoy some of the photos that I have selected. There were literally thousands to choose from so I tried to choose ones that I think at least in part depict our creative journey from then to now.

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Accountant, mentor, advisor and good

friend, Jim Nayyar..

Presenting new cutting techniques for an early

L’Oréal seminar

Nowadays our salons are winning awards

for their unique designs

Our first attempt at a LOGO - neon script

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a tiny se le ction of som e of the m ode ls and te am s w ho have share d the journe y ove r the p ast 30 ye ars

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MODELS

Model: HannaHHannah was perhaps my first ‘super model’. The daughter of one of my very good clients and aged about 10 when we first started shooting her. we started to learn how to photograph our new hairstyles and soon realised that this was an important part of our creative development. despite being so young, she was always great to work with. of course these days we would never work with models so young but at the time it gave us a great opportunity to build our confidence.

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MODELS

Model: MicHelle I loved working with this model. She was great fun and allowed us to experiment and try new things. Building good relationships with our models was so important. They needed to trust that we would always look after them and their hair properly.

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Model: nicky My first attempt at shooting hair

for brides..... I‘ve personally always

loved dressing long hair and always felt that doing the hair

for a bride is a very special privilege. You get to share perhaps

one of the more momentous landmarks

in a person’s life.

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Model: natasHa Another one of my more adventurous models who allowed us to get creative and experiment trying out new ideas... It looks so dated now, but at the time this was a cutting edge haircut that inspired a lot of new clients to come into our salon.

14Choto ey Sean .anna

Model: donnaI probably shot

donna dozens of times in the early

years. I particularly loved this shoot. I

did the hair and then took the picture on epsom downs and

this became my first cover shot for our industry magazine

Hairdresser’s Journal. donna was also an

awesome dancer and we used her in

numerous shows and exhibitons.

15Choto ey Sean .anna

Model: steven lowneSteve was a great friend. His parents had a cottage down in wales and we used to have amazing weekends doing creative shoots. I remember there was a derelict castle nearby which frequently provided a dramtic backdrop for us. This picture of Steve became our first Mens ad campaign.

16 Choto ey Hony Phite

Model: eMMaI loved this photo of

emma - not particularly commercial but it captured

a really glamorous emotion. The photo was taken by

a good friend Tony white, who sadly recently passed

away. Tony was known as being one of the UK’s

leading black & white printers but he was a

brilliant photographer too. we worked with Tony for

almost 30 years and he is greatly missed.

17Choto ey 8auro Cararro

Model: MicHelleAnother shot of Michelle. Very “Jacqui o” this was my second cover for Hairdressers Journal. It was more about the image than the actual hairstyle but it seemed to draw people into it. I think the glasses made her look mysterious.

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Model: kerrieThis was possibly the

first time I worked with a professional model. My best friend Mauro took

the photo and we used it for an early ad campaign. I remember we hired in a ‘SKY’ painted backdrop

to give the impression that she was outdoors with this

fabulous sky behind her.

Choto ey 8auro Cararro

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Model: lukiaLukia was again one of my favourite house models frequently working on shoots and shows with us. She had awesome hair which allowed me to create new styles on it almost every month.

Choto ey 8auro Cararro

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sHowtiMeThere is always

something special about creating a great hair show.

of course the hair is important but

how it is presented can make all the

difference. Choosing the right music, the

right backdrops, creating the right

atmosphere all go a long way to ensuring

that your audience leaves feeling both

excited and inspired. In truth I was doing shows long before I

could really do shows so it was a very steep

learning curve!

SHOWS

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SHOWS

sHowtiMeI loved this picture.

we took it on a beach in the South of France where we did our very

first international hair show for a French

Magazine called Metamorphose.

The show was in a conference centre but it was right by

the beach. we took the models out to

rehearse their moves. we got some strange

looks. I remember feeling so very

excited. we took all our own models

out from the UK and quite a large team.

It was a fantastic weekend.

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sHowtiMeThis was one of my first proper

seminars. My model was a good friend, Alison, and I persuaded her to

have her hair done on stage in front of about 500 people. I’m not sure

who was more nervous. Her or me?

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sHowtiMeThis photo was taken at a show we did for L’oréal in Helsinki. For some bizarre reason I must have thought that a pony tail was the way to go...

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sHowtiMeJessica and Sarah - I always loved

this. They were in a children’s section of a show we did for our clients in

the epsom Playhouse raising money for some of our local charities. They

did a rendition of a number from Bugsey Malone. Am pretty sure it

was “My name is Tallulah.” Anyway, they had practiced for ages getting their routine perfect and they stole the hearts of our audience. It was

very special!

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ellie and annaKeeping it in the family! I did a ‘kids shoot’ with my daughter ellie (right) and one of her school friends. It seems like just the other day that we did this but she is now all grown up with a son of her own. I gave her this cute little bob with a fringe. 20 years on, she still gives me grief for it.

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Mauro carraroone of my best friends since we

bunked school together way back when. A great photographer, he taught

me how to take pictures as well as shooting most of our early collections.

our photography has always helped us define who we are and helped us

develop our creativity. Mauro was always an imporant part of this.

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Model: Paula

one of our first Saturday girls in

our worcester Park salon, Paula had

this amazing hair which we bleached and

styled into this fun

mohawk.

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Model: katHerine I did this while teaching a seminar in Montreal for L’oréal. All these looks were on the same model. Yesmin was helping me and we did all the looks in less than two hours. when we came back to the UK we released the photos and they attracted massive coverage worldwide.

.air ey Sean .anna & Yesmin O’Brien - Chotos ey Sean .anna & Dan Collins

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Chotos ey 8auro Cararro

award winning At the time I was just so excited doing these pictures. we shot them on the stairs at the back of our epsom salon. Remember these were taken way before digital photography was available to us. we ran transparency film through a C41 process which gave the images that high contrast twist. we actually won an award with this collection which was very cool.

32Choto ey Anthony 8asoolo

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Chotos ey 8auro Cararro

siMPlicityThese pictures have always been some of my favourites. The simplicity and natural beauty just has an appeal to me which is quite compelling. It’s funny though, on the picture on the right, I was desperate to find the wicker chair. I’d seen something similar in Vogue and wanted to try it out. we eventually found it in a film props hire studio in Birmingham. Getting the chair cost us more than getting the model. Looking back it probably wasn’t worth it but I still think it’s important to fight for the fine details.

34Chotos ey 8auro Cararro

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Moving forwarddefinitely one of my favourite early collections, it had a very futuristic feel. I had great fun doing the hair, the models worked well, the styling and the photography all came together on the day. This was one of my first collections that was published world wide and at the time was quite a leap forward in terms of the quality of what we were shooting. we were originally trying to make it look like it was shot in an underground car park, but it somehow ended up looking more like it was shot in a space ship. You don’t always end up with what you planned for, but sometimes that can be a good thing.

36Chotos ey Roeert 6oeetta

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water worldAnother one of my favourite collections. we shot this in a friend’s swimming pool. It was technically a very challenging shoot. The condensation from the water caused the camera to keep jamming up and keeping the hair controlled with all the water was way more difficult than I had imagined. we had the models, make up artist, photographer and assistants all in the pool at the same time. In the end it all came good and we ended up with cover shots all over the world and yet another award winning collection.

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Chotos ey Roeert 6oeetta

alPineThis was perhaps one of my most ambitious collections ever. we hired in the ‘mountains’ from Pinewood Studios. we hired in dry ice machines to make the clouds, and even brought in fake snow. It was actually shot inside a church hall in epsom but we made it look like it was shot in the Alps. It was shot by a friend and photographer Robert Lobetta who has an amazing commitment to perfection. obviously not the cheapest collection we ever shot but sometimes it’s like that when you are trying to break boundaries. By now, pretty much all our collections were being widely published worldwide.

40.air ey Yesmin O’Brien - Chotos ey 4aok Eames - Styling ey Bernary Connolly - 8ake up ey Irena Rogers

session worldCatwalk shows all around the globe

help to influence the world of fashion. our Artistic director Yesmin o’Brien frequently styles the hair of some of the most beautiful models, at some of the most exciting fashion shows in London, Paris and Milan. In this

collection Yesmin has created some beautiful examples of the types of styles that have gained her one of

the most respected reputations as a Session Stylist extraordinaire.

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.air ey Skyler 8oDonaly - Chotos ey Sean .anna - 8ake up Cheryl Chelps Garyiner - Styling ey Bernary Connolly - Pefts ey BA68AI9

acquaticNowadays I do a lot of the photgraphy for Skyler’s collections, which I really enjoy. In this collection we wanted to be quite experimental and try to create the feeling of almost being under water. we wanted it to be ‘hair art’. If you’d like to see the video of how Sky did the hair for this go to:www.seanhanna.com/tribute

44.air ey Skyler 8oDonaly - Chotos ey Sean .anna - 8ake up Cheryl Chelps Garyiner - Styling ey Bernary Connolly - Cost proyuotion ey Chris Chuyleigh

MasksThis was another collection that I shot

for Skyler. we really wanted to push the bounds of creativity. She made the

mask on the opposite page from real hair. It’s completely awesome. To see the video of how this was done, go to

www.seanhanna.com/creativeheadIt’s quite fascinating and if this type of

creativity inspires you definitely check it out.

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Pefts ey BA68AI9 .air

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47.air ey Skyler 8oDonaly - Chotos ey Hrevor 6eighton - 8ake up Cheryl Chelps Garyiner - Styling ey Bernary Connolly - .air wefts ey BA68AI9

avant gardeSkyler is renouned as being one of the most creative Avant Garde Stylists in the UK. In this collection she creates amazing shapes and textures that are simply breath-taking. All the styles are formed from real hair and the thing I particularly love is that they have retained an element of movement and softness.

48.air ey Skyler 8oDonaly - Chotos ey Hrevor 6eighton - 8ake up Cheryl Chelps Garyiner - Styling ey Bernary Connolly

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londonFor me this is possibly one of the most interesting and beautiful collections that Skyler has ever produced. It’s soft, yet graphic. It’s radical yet romantic. It’s simple yet ingenius. This collection has seen Skyler once again nominated as the London Hairdresser of the Year in the British Hairdresser of the Year Awards, a title she previously won in 2010.

50.air ey Skyler 8oDonaly - Chotos ey Hrevor 6eighton - 8ake up Cheryl Chelps Garyiner - Styling ey Bernary Connolly

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CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF

CREATIVITY

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF

CREATIVITY

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF

CREATIVITY

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF

CREATIVITY