Aveda Senior Vice President, Global Professional Artistry and 2025 NAHA Industry Icon Honoree, Antoinette Beenders’s new “Abyssal” collection was inspired by the mesmerizing beauty of the ocean’s depths, showcasing haircuts that embody both the slick finesse and the shimmering allure of aquatic life. Each look is designed to reflect the unique aesthetics found beneath the waves, capturing the essence of fluidity and grace that defines the underwater world.
With strong graphic haircuts that echo the shapes and silhouettes of unreal but very much real sea creatures, the “Abyssal” collection pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in hairstyling. The looks range from sleek, glossy finishes that mimic the shine of fish scales, to architectural cuts that evoke the vibrant forms of other marine life.
The “Abyssal” styles were deeply inspired by Aveda’s Miraculous Oil High-Shine Hair Concentrate which launched over the summer — no surprise, Beenders played a large role in its development. Her goal with this collection was for the designs to pay homage to the artistic contrasts and dynamic creativity found beneath the waves.
Scroll for a look at the more of the styles as well as an exclusive Q&A with Beenders herself.
The Tease: There’s quite a lot of range in the haircuts that are part of this Abyssal Collection, some really organic, soft shapes and then others that are quite bold and severe. Tell us about these contrasts.
Antoinette Beenders: The silhouettes of the cuts were all inspired by sea creatures, which have such a beautiful range from strong and sharp to softer and more organic. With this collection however, I was mostly focused on emphasizing that high-shine, almost wet-looking finish, and worked backward to determine a cut that would showcase that effect. I really wanted a slick and liquid-like vibe to be the constant across all of the looks.
Talk to us about how you achieved the high shine and wet-look effects. Which products were key to locking these looks?
Beenders: These looks were inspired by the high shine of Aveda’s Miraculous Oil which I used on all of these looks. I also have a fun opportunity to work directly with our R&D partners at Aveda to create concoctions that garner specific results I am looking for – so for this collection I was experimenting with something that gave this incredible liquid effect. I feel so fortunate to be able to work with R&D this way and experiment with different formulations and textures that drive artist-forward innovations — these concoctions lead to lots of ideas that eventually turn into products. It’s really exciting.
It’s commonly accepted that 80% of the ocean remains unexplored, what about hairstyling? What would you like to do more of, perhaps in future collections?
Beenders: This is such a great question, and I feel like it’s not so much of what I want to do more of, but what I want to see for our industry and how hair artistry overall is perceived. I often say ‘hair is the fabric of the body’ – I love the customization that we’re able to do on our guests in the salon, especially with our Aveda hair color which can be completely, uniquely customized for each of our guests. I feel this is very much in line with couture fashion, where pieces are customized for who will be wearing them. So for our industry, I hope for hair artistry to be perceived in the same way that couture fashion is — thoughtfully and luxuriously customized for each guest.
Image Credits
Haircuts and concept: Antoinette Beenders
Supported by Allen Ruiz and Luis Gonzalez
Photography: Ed Maximus
Makeup: Walter Obal
Production: Code Productions
