Yield your imagination to the whimsical visions of multihued, spiked, twisted and bulbous Lady Gaga-like hair creations. Gossamer designs, colored lights and sky-scraping tresses envelop, tantalize and sometimes shock the senses. Where are you? Is this an alien gathering for lunar stylists? No, you are one of the lucky attendees of the Alternative Hair Show, where anything goes when it comes to hair.
This one-of-a-kind, fantasy-filled charitable event envelops thousands in the bizarre, rainbow-colored world of hair couture. Founded by hairstylist Tony Rizzo in 1983, the Alternative Hair Show was ingeniously designed to heighten awareness and generate funding for leukemia research. Rizzo’s young son, whose death was caused by the disease, is the inspiration behind the show.
Since its inception, the elaborate, fun-filled event has become renowned as one of the world’s most celebrated hair shows. Princes and famous individuals fill the seats as impractical hairdos are flaunted across the stage. Each year’s fantastic theme becomes the motivational concept behind the sprayed, dyed and stiffened locks. The 2010 participants devised styles that embodied their interpretation of the word “masquerade.” The 2011 theme is “illusion.”
In 2004, Rizzo launched the Visionary Award, which encourages hairdressers to submit a photograph of one of their hair creations. Ten award winners are selected; each is invited to present a hair model at the Alternative Hair Show. Hairdressers from around the globe covet the Visionary Award and invitations to show off their dramatically artistic and somewhat outlandish coifs at their own expense.
Known to include major celebrities, the show’s success hinges on the creative prowess and collaboration of industry professionals and has become the pinnacle of hair entertainment. The Alternative Hair Show displays its unusual “dos” annually and hosts the following 2011 events: the Visionary Award Ireland, held this past July 10 at Dublin’s Thomas Prior Hall; the Visionary Award Ukraine, held this past Sept. 5 in Kiev; the Visionary Award Italy and Alternative Hair International Hair Design Masters Presentation, held this past Sept. 25 in Milan; the Illusion Alternative Hair Show Russia, held this Sept. 28 in Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace; and the Illusion Alternative Hair Show London, which will take place on Oct. 16 at Royal Albert Hall.
Alternative styling, like that seen in the Alternative Hair Show, is defined by its departure from the norm, but some of these less-than-popular hairdos could become the next trendsetters. Something has to inspire the pink bobs, white pixies and black spikes of tomorrow.
