Looking her best is every woman’s right, according to Hairdresser of the Year Akin Konizi. Dawn Collinson reports

THIRTY years in the business have never brought Hairdresser of the Year Akin Konizi to Liverpool before now.

But, even so, he’s pretty sure that he and the city’s fashion pack deal in the same currency: full-on glamour.

“Liverpool girls sound absolutely great,” he smiles. “I love that they go out in their rollers, what a great attitude. I’ve never seen or would expect to see that in London, but it’s fantastic. They’re not apologising or making excuses for wanting to look their best and I think that’s amazing.

“On that subject, we are definitely agreed. The majority of my work is very feminine, very sexy and very dramatic, but not in any way outlandish. I think women should always look as beautiful as they possibly can.”

Akin, the creative force behind leading hairdressing group Hob salons, will finally make it to the city to see for himself next week.

He will be VIP judge at Andrew Collinge’s Creative Stylist Awards, which take place at their Castle Street salon on Monday.

It will be an opportunity to pursue one of his over-riding passions within the industry – education. It is vital, he explains, to always be learning, no matter how experienced a stylist you are, to keep the creativity alive.

“You see people who’ve been bored and all of a sudden you start teaching them some new stuff and the fears goes away and it’s like lighting a candle in their eyes,” he says. “Hairdressing is the most incredible business because it keeps you motivated and it keeps you young, and it can be a great enjoyment. Normally, how much love you have for a job depends on how much you enjoy it, and that in turn depends on how good you are at it. My objective is to give everyone the same knowledge I had because having that made me really enjoy what I did and so, as a result, I became good at it.

“I think if someone stops learning, then they’ll get bored eventually because there are no new barriers for them to cross.”

His own highly-successful salon group is very much in the template of his early experience as an apprentice 30 years ago.

He began, he recalls, sweeping up and shampooing, very much along the old-fashioned route.

“There are different ways of getting into hairdressing, either at an academy like the ones we have, or as a traditional apprentice,” he says.

“But I believe that, with any industry you are hoping to be successful in, you have to understand every single aspect and every single person within that industry, from the tea lady right up to the director. My first job was in London’s Leicester Square, at a place called Alan International, which was probably one of the biggest companies in the 80s.