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When it comes to knowing hair, you can’t go past the Mascolo family. In the business since the 1960s, younger brother Anthony Mascolo has spent his life in hair salons. The winner of three British Hairdresser of the Year awards and the International Creative Director of TIGI, Anthony is a powerhouse within the hair industry. On his recent trip to Australia where he put on an incredible show and hosted education sessions at Hair Expo, we chatted to the industry icon.
What inspired you to create TIGI?
It goes back a long, long way. My older brothers started Toni & Guy and from there TIGI was the missing link to what we did in the salons and the way we were creating shows and photographs. We needed product to be able to add to the work that we were doing and so we started creating products that would give us the effects that we wanted. It was really a joint thing from the family, but it started in the 80s.
A love for hair clearly runs in the family…
There are four of us: Toni, Guy, Bruno and myself. They started earlier because they’re older than me. My father was a hairdresser and trained everyone, then my brothers opened a shop in 1963, my other brothers joined in 1968 and I joined in 1974. There was a salon that we came in on, then we built a few more and then we did education and did schools. We were very ambitious and wanted to try and be the best – and it just went on from there.
Do you enjoy putting on shows like Hair Expo?
It’s always a good challenge coming to Australia because everyone’s got a very high standard. Because Australia is so far away from everything, everyone really puts a lot of energy into it. What we wanted to do was a show that was entertainment with a bit of fun, hair, performance, dance, fashion and modelling. So all these things together gave us the show we got.
Was there anything innovative or new that caught your eye?
I saw some of the work that was going on and I think the standard is really high. More than anything, I think Hair Expo puts on a really good show. I go to the ones in Chicago, Bologna, all over, and they’re more about stands and products. Hair Expo seems to be more about education and shows.
Did you launch anything at Hair Expo?
No. We were just promoting TIGI and pushing all the brands that we have. We did a pre-launch of Hair Reborn, which is going to be launched later on in the year. It was really more about getting people behind what we’re doing and on board and brainwashing them - you will buy our stuff! [laughs]
Where do you get your inspiration from when it comes to putting on shows?
I have a really good team. We’re all here and we collectively feel what kind of thing is going on, but more than anything I think music is the best inspiration especially for the more street collections we do. Fantasy is born in you.
What is it you hope to take away from doing international shows?
I think we’ve helped Australia take it to the next level and hopefully done a good job for taking the actual distribution here a bit further.
You have a strong link with fashion trends. Do you believe hair and fashion knit quite tightly together?
Hair is an accessory to fashion. People wear clothes and they wear their hair, they don’t just wear their hair. You’ve got to make the hair suit the clothes that people adopt.
Can you describe the most outlandish show you’ve ever put on?
We did this show about six months ago in London. We had a slightly larger budget so we were able to have more performers and things happening all over the place. We really didn’t necessarily do a ‘hair show’, we did more of a show.
What are the current big trends you are seeing in hair and hair products?
Much fuller hair, sexier hair. I don’t think there’s much straight hair or ironing of the hair anymore, it’s more about bringing out that natural movement.
What has been your career highlight?
Everything that you do is a career highlight. It gets better and better as you go along. Obviously you have your highs and your lows and you work with it, but it’s fun. Hairdressers are the second happiest people in their job. The first is carers.
What is your favourite product in the TIGI range?
Manipulator. I used to use it on my own hair. It was one of the first ones that we did that was really different. It put Bed Head on the map.
Is there a hairstyle you’ll never get bored of?
The undercut. Short underneath, long on top. I love that one. Done it since the 80s.
What are the key components you look at when developing a new product?
What kind of texture you want to create, how it performs and then working with it. Try and make one product for a specific texture and that works for the style.
Where do you see TIGI heading?
To higher heights, working harder and getting out to more people. Having the support of Unilever now gives it more strength to compete against the big boys like L’Oreal and Procter because before it was TIGI on our own. Being with Unilever, they’re obviously one of the big guys too, so it gives us a lot more strength to be able to carry on and push harder. I think we’ll see a lot more from TIGI.