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Hair color juggernaut Schwarzkopf hosted a global artistry festival in Berlin this past April 13-14, and I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the event which celebrated the brand’s 125-year history. The Hair by Schwarzkopf Festival wasn’t just a retrospective of the beauty giant’s storied past—it was a full-on declaration of what’s next. Central to that future? A new company mission: “For Every You.” That simple phrase carries big weight—because it’s not just about hair, it’s about honoring transformation. Every version of you, every chapter, every reinvention.
Berlin isn’t the kind of city that eases you in—it throws you right into the deep end of culture, contrast, and creativity. I landed in Germany on Friday afternoon, bleary-eyed from 18 hours of international travel but still feeling oddly refreshed (business class, you have my heart).
Before the festivities began, I squeezed in a much-needed haircut—it felt like a fitting way to begin what would become a weekend of transformation ahead—and explored a bit of Berlin. The city was the perfect backdrop for a festival focused on evolution: cobblestone streets and crumbling brick collided with brutalist structures and bursts of vibrant graffiti. Old meets new. Tradition meets rebellion.
What struck me most over the course of the weekend was that this wasn’t just a festival about hair. It was about what it means to move forward—with intention, with community, and with creative courage.
The Future Embraces Texture
Once treated like something to tame, texture is now being celebrated—and Schwarzkopf made that loud and clear. One of the most resonant takeaways from the festival was the industry’s evolving relationship with textured hair. Over the decades, we’ve seen the conversation shift from silencing texture to spotlighting it, and this weekend proved we’re not going back.
Schwarzkopf Digital Artistic Team member Brendnetta Ashley shared her personal experience of witnessing this shift—from smoothing everything out to elevating the uniqueness of curls, coils, and waves. And the proof wasn’t just in the conversations, it was in the visuals: Texture took center stage in nearly every major show.
From the Aztec Hair Show by Javier Romero to the dreamy, high-concept styles in Unseen Tokyo by Shima, and the editorial fantasy of Fashion Week: Visualization of Dreams by Lesley Jennison and Pablo Kuemin—each showcased textured hair not as a side note, but as the headline.
The brand also introduced their Curly Pop Service, pioneered by global ambassador Reema Jaber, a major move toward customized color for textured hair. With textured hair searches up 41% in 2023 and the textured hair category racking up over US$10 billion annually, this launch felt like more than a service—it felt like a promise. Curly Pop, which highlights Schwarzkopf Professional’s BlondeMe and the Igora Vibrance ranges, is all about bespoke color that meets texture where it lives, celebrating every curl, kink, and coil.
This wasn’t just about hair trends. It was about a future where every texture is not only welcomed—but woven into the very fabric of what’s next.
The Future Really is Female
Hairdressing has always been sold to women—yet, far too often, it’s still led by men. That imbalance isn’t just a U.S. issue; globally, the contrast can be even more stark. But what I witnessed at the Hair by Schwarzkopf Festival was different. It wasn’t performative or surface-level. It was structural, intentional, and deeply embedded.
From the moment I arrived, I was surrounded by women not just in attendance, but in power. Lesley Jennison and Lisa Farrall were omnipresent as event hosts alongside Nick Irwin, while Elizabeth Faye took the spotlight during both the opening show and a range of business-forward panels. The Women in Leadership Panel brought together beauty bosses from across the globe—offering a vision of what leadership can and should look like in our industry.
As I mingled and networked with Schwarzkopf’s global teams, I kept noticing a pattern: the leadership was overwhelmingly female. I met the Schwarzkopf Professional and Schwarzkopf teams—and didn’t encounter a single man among them. That’s not a fluke. That’s a flex.
Two of the biggest headliners of the festival were celebrity stylists Jacob Schwartz (Schwarzkopf Professional U.S. Hair Color Trend Ambassador) and Chris Appleton (Schwarzkopf Global Color Ambassador)—both men. Yet in their panels and personal interviews, each expressed how the women in their lives were what initially drew them to beauty. It was the transformational effect they witnessed beauty having on their mothers and grandmothers that sparked their careers and continues to drive their work today.
Rounding out the trio of ambassador headliners was Tracey Cunningham (Schwarzkopf Professional U.S. Creative Director of Color & Technique), may have shared the stage with Jacob and Chris, but she undeniably delivered the most memorable presence. When Tracey took the mic, the crowd didn’t just listen—they felt her. She radiated a warm, comforting, and inspiring energy that swept through the room like a wave. She wasn’t just admired—she was revered.
This wasn’t a festival that tokenized female talent. It was a celebration of what happens when women lead the charge. And if what I saw is any indication, the future of Schwarzkopf—and hopefully the industry at large—isn’t just female. It’s fearlessly female.
The Future is High Contrast
When we talk about the future of hair color, the mind often leaps to boldness—color blocking, neon pigments, high-shine vivids, and finishes that break every rule. But at the Hair by Schwarzkopf Festival, contrast wasn’t just about shock value. It was about intention. The conversation around contrast shifted from brightness to placement, from intensity to individuality.
Tracey Cunningham, author of True Color: The Essential Hair Color Handbook, built her career on crafting natural-looking, high-contrast color inspired by real hair history. Instead of chasing viral hair content or AI-generated inspo, Tracey starts with her client’s childhood photos. She studies where the sun kissed their strands, where melanin played its part. That’s where the contrast begins. It’s subtle. It’s lived-in. And it’s completely personal. Igora Vibrance was named by Tracey as a standout coloring tool for achieving and refining these natural results.
Jacob Schwartz shares that same reverence for restraint. When asked about the future of color, he lit up talking about how organic contrast—the kind that enhances rather than overwhelms—is what gives his work longevity. He shared that subtlety isn’t going anywhere, because that’s where the true hair craft begins.
Driving this idea home was Patricia Nikole (aka @paintedhair) who introduced Schwarzkopf’s new Contrast Blonde Service. The service, featuring the brand’s Igora Vibrance and BlondeMe ranges, is built around new application protocols designed to replicate that soft, sun-warmed, signature contrast we’ve come to associate with Cunningham, Schwartz, and Nikole’s work. It’s a future-forward take on what’s always worked—just refined, rethought, and ready to lead the next 125 years.
The Future Embraces Grey
For more than a century, the beauty industry told us that grey hair needed to be hidden. From powders and pomades to permanent dye, covering greys has been big business—and a visual marker of resistance to aging. But if the Hair by Schwarzkopf Festival is any indication, the next chapter of hair history is asking a new question: why hide what makes you, you?
That shift isn’t just happening on the brand side—it’s client-driven. Since the 2020 lockdowns, more and more people have reconsidered their relationship with aging and authenticity. In fact, a 2022 study revealed that 40% of women between the ages of 42 and 57 are now embracing their natural greys, many of whom stopped coloring during the pandemic and never looked back. Five years later, that decision is no longer a temporary break from the salon—it’s a lifestyle choice.
Schwarzkopf is meeting that shift head-on with its newly debuted Embrace Grey Service, an educational and service-based approach championed by artist Jack Martin leveraging Schwarzkopf Professional’s BlondeMe and Igora Vibrance ranges. Instead of masking natural depigmentation, the service leans into it—highlighting grey and white strands through tonal enhancement, brightness balancing, and strategic placement.
Grey, here, isn’t just accepted. It’s elevated.
This tonal shift (pun intended) aligns perfectly with the brand’s “For Every You” mission. Rather than reinforcing outdated narratives about beauty and aging, Schwarzkopf is empowering stylists to help clients express themselves exactly as they are—no cover-up required.
It’s a future that celebrates the science of aging as a design tool, not a flaw. One that tells clients: you don’t need to go back to who you were. You get to show the world who you are becoming.
The Future is Trendless
For the next 125+ years, the trend cycle is dead—and Schwarzkopf knows it. During the 2020 lockdown, we watched the old rules collapse. What once held for seasons now changed by the week. Everything was a “core,” and each aesthetic lasted just long enough to trend on TikTok before being replaced by the next micro-movement.
But what’s risen from the ashes is something far more meaningful: individuality.
From the moment the festival began, it was clear that Schwarzkopf wasn’t here to crown the next big look. Instead, the brand embraced a future built on personal identity. That philosophy pulsed through every mainstage show—each one distinct, irreverent, and totally unbound by trend logic. The shows felt like a funeral procession to the concept of the trend cycle itself.
Even among attendees, self-expression was the only throughline. Artists from 60+ countries each brought something wildly unique to the table, and yet somehow, it all felt cohesive. (Though, let’s be honest: we all wore black.)
With the launch of Curly Pop, Contrast Blonde, and Embrace Grey, Schwarzkopf leaned fully into a future where hair is no longer about chasing relevance—it’s about reflecting reality. Every service was designed to enhance what already exists. Because when you stop chasing the trend, you finally start chasing truth.
Closing Thoughts
As I boarded my flight home, one truth stuck with me above all: Schwarzkopf may be a giant global brand, but what it’s built feels deeply human. This didn’t feel like a distant, corporate celebration—it felt like a reunion. A homecoming. A place where artists, educators, and dreamers from around the world showed up not just to watch, but to build something together.
I wasn’t just invited to witness the next 125 years—I was invited to help shape them. And that’s the kind of future I want to show up for.
Next Up
While the Hair by Schwarzkopf Festival represented the brand’s grand-scale future, the hair giant is bringing that same collaborative energy stateside with the Schwarzkopf Profesional’s L.I.F.T. 2025 series. With its first top in Denver on May 19th at Mile High Station, the tour continues this September 14th and 15th in Nashville.
