A Month On From HairCon… And I’m Still Not Over It!

I can’t believe it’s already been a whole month since HairCon… and to be honest, I still haven’t fully recovered! Now that the dust (and hairspray) has settled, I thought it was about time I shared the story of what went on behind the scenes and why this was one of the wildest, most wonderful weekends we’ve ever had.

Let’s rewind to November last year. Myself and Andy Campling took a little trip up north to scope out the venue: Manchester’s Victorian Warehouse. It was dark, slightly damp, and definitely had that beer-soaked gig vibe, but we instantly knew… this was it. The raw energy of the space gave us all the feels. We didn’t want to just turn up at HairCon 2025, we wanted to live in this venue, breathe in its history, and reflect it back in the most ELEVEN way possible.

That’s where our theme began: Underground Meets Undone. Inspired by the legendary Hacienda, we knew we didn’t want to be polished or corporate. We wanted to be unapologetically cool. ELEVEN Australia cool. Manchester cool. Hair-that-looks-like-you-didn’t-try-but-we-all-know-you-did cool.

We got to work. Custom furniture designs? Tick. Limited edition ELEVEN x HairCon tees? Tick. Our own guerrilla-style promo posters, flyered up around town? Big tick. Honestly, the build-up buzz was almost as good as the weekend itself.
Our ELEVEN Australia Collective prepped with the amazing Sophie Laidlaw, ready to take to the stand stage all weekend with Hacienda-inspired hair looks. Big energy, big texture, big moments and they nailed it!

And then came the main stage show. Oh boy. I’ve done a few shows in my time, but this one? This one nearly broke me (in the best possible way). We had 8 models, each with a story, a shape, a vibe. Melvin Royce Lane, Paul Dennison and Ben Nott were absolute stars. And shout out to Andy Turner, who somehow translated the madness in my mind into an actual, high-energy, mega-cool production.

The show opened with a lone model walking up to the Hacienda. You could hear her footsteps, music muffled in the distance… then BAM—the doors swing open and the club hits. Hair had to reflect the moment, lived-in, textured, and oozing ELEVEN attitude. Dancers doubled as models, and every shape was considered. There were last-minute model swaps, a few panic texts, and a lot of deep breathing.

Rehearsals started at ridiculous o’clock and we had just ten minutes on stage to run through it. Hair and makeup had under two hours to transform the models, and the Collective were absolute heroes, steaming, styling, running, fixing, and hyping each other up like pros.

As the show was called, I legged it round to the front, grabbed a seat, and tried not to have a full-blown meltdown. But the second that first beat dropped… the nerves turned into pure pride. They nailed it. The hair was epic. The vibe was electric. And most importantly, we looked cool.

As if that wasn’t enough, I was also on stage on Saturday for a cheeky little debate: “Salon Retail is Dead?” (Spoiler: it’s very much alive). I was joined by the brilliant Thomas from Touched Salon and gorgeous Holly from Louellai, and we invited the audience to join the convo using red and green cards to vote. Thankfully, the green cards won the day, retail still has a huge place in salon culture, and we’re here to prove it.

The whole weekend was a whirlwind. We talked to so many stylists and salon owners, shared product knowledge, showed off killer looks, and generally didn’t stop moving. Our feet were destroyed. I think I survived on a combo of caffeine, dry shampoo and adrenaline. But would I do it all again? In a heartbeat.

Here’s the official quote I sent to the HairCon team, and I stand by every word:

“HairCon absolutely exceeded our expectations. I must admit the hard work really paid off from you guys, the footfall was massive. One of the biggest objectives we wanted to do was to walk away from HairCon looking cooler than when we arrived and with everything that you guys had set up for us I believe we achieved that, so a massive congratulations and it was really amazing working with you all.”

Thank you to every single person who made HairCon what it was, from the dancers to the stylists, the Collective, the models, our Wonderful Brands team, the organisers, and my right-hand girl Katie Ward. You all smashed it. I don’t know how we top this next year… but I know we’ll try.

See you on the dance floor.

By Jo Robertson, UK ELEVEN Australia Education Director