Heading Out Hair and Beauty

Anthony Martino

Entrepreneur Anthony Martino established Heading Out Hair & Beauty in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy 20 years ago. Anthony came to Australia from Italy where the family industry was the farming of Bergamot in Calabria. Australia offered Anthony a world of opportunity to try new things.

A quietly spoken gentleman, Anthony is admired by staff and peers alike for his ability to be at the top of his industry year after year - decade after decade. It is this consistency that sees him revered for his ability to spot talent and nurture it to succeed. Anthony guides five hair & beauty salons and day spa groups with his leadership and business expertise.

Caterina DiBiase - Artistic Director

The creative spirit behind Heading Out's success is undoubtedly its Artistic Director Caterina Dibiase. Unlike Caterina, who is a quiet, understated achiever; her work is startling and dynamic. An ever evolving gallery of looks and moods that often defy the current trend, Caterina's hair images look beyond what's happening now, to point to the future in hairdressing trends. Indeed, she is at the cutting edge of setting them. Caterina's accolades read as a testament to her talent and are evidence of her remarkable longevity in the fast moving world of fashion. Her achievements are even more remarkable given that she is still in her thirties.

Caterina's Most Recent Achievements Include:
Winner - Hair Expo Australian Hairdresser of the Year 2007
Winner - AHFA - Australian Hairdresser of the Year 2007
Winner - AHFA - Victorian Hairdresser of the Year 2007

The Salon - Heading Out Hair & Beauty

This extraordinary salon features soaring space houses, a mezzanine with cleverly designed and precariously cantilevered glass VIP cube, color zone and a beauty experience centre. Downstairs, the journey begins in the beauty pit - where champagne is consumed with friends - or new ones made - whilst makeup, manicures and pedicures are conducted in the salon's window.

The space continues with specialist cutting and care zones - where styles are created and tensions are soothed at the luxurious basin lounges. The entire experience is total luxury coupled with style - a rare occurrence. Guests enjoy the combination of beauty, care and color with a well paced and spaced journey to accomplish the ultimate - an enhanced wellbeing and rejuvenation of style and fashionable hair.

The space, the third for the Heading Out group, was designed by renowned architect and spa specialist Guy Tulloh.Â

Salon Awards:
Winner Hair Expo Australian Hairdresser of the Year 2007
Winner Hair Expo New Creative Force 2007
Winner Hair Expo Photo Collection of the Year 2007
Winner AHFA Australian Hairdresser of the Year 2007
Winner AHFA Victorian Hairdresser of the Year 2007
Winner AHFA Creative Colorists of the Year 2007

Caterina's Fashion Forecast For Summer/Spring

Nude femininity is the direction for fashionable hair color this Spring/Summer. The 2007 seasonal tones are 'au naturel', in shades of gold, copper gold and nude blonde. Browns to brunettes are a combination of mauve and mahogany tones. Again very soft and subtle with just hints of color peeping through. All the colors are very, very fine and blend as one. For beige browns you'll see ripples of burnt toffee and soft copper highlights. They are very warm and with creams, golden copper bases, strawberry blondes and creamy gold lights all soft and intertwined. Really rich auburn features with a mix of copper and red tones too.

Interview

As well as finding out about Heading Out's great salon, Paola also had the pleasure of interviewing Anthony Martino and Caterina DiBiase.

Q) Firstly, congratulations on your fifth salon which you recently opened in Melbourne. How are you finding the response?

We are overwhelmed by the response to our fabulous new salon! Melbourne was ready for a fashionable city salon that combined hair and beauty in the one experience centre. We have been booked solid since we opened. And the surprising thing is that we are attracting everyone from students to politicians, bankers to models! More men are coming in, which is fantastic as we have created new services just for them. We are thrilled at the support we have received.

Q) We all know how much colors and styles can change in the blink of an eye and how celebrities are becoming more and more of an influence with the decisions clients make with their hair. Do you think this trend will continue and what do you think is going to be the best colors and styles choices for this season?

Celebrities have affected trends from the beginning â€“ think of Cleopatra! Today, we are still influenced by Posh and Sienna, Gwen and Madonna, and clients love to see them change their look as it gives them the chance to see a before and after â€“ and how easily it can be done. When Posh is brunette one week and blonde the next, clients feel more comfortable about big color changes themselves.

Kate Moss's recent fringe has had a huge influence in our salons. Within hours of the release, clients were coming in with downloaded images of Kate's fringe. When celebrities do something new and different, clients love it â€“ "it gives them the green light, go ahead".Â

But by far the Posh trend continues, clients are having their styles short and in lots of shapes.

The current trend influence is the 40's, lovely precise haircuts are all back in fashion.

Color is very solid and glossy, healthy and easy to manage with short hair very popular as color can be changed more freely. The brunette tones are cool, muted browns and the blondes are vanilla & golden â€“ clients will definitely be going blonder and lighter.

Q) Because a salon can be such a hectic environment, what does your salon offer to your clients to give them the best experience possible to keep them coming back for more?

Our salons have zones that offer clients different moods for their visit. Our cutting floor is fast, busy, exciting and noisy, but our color zone is relaxed, cool and friendly. Our beauty areas for facials, massages and treatments are very 'zen' like, but we also offer more social areas for manicures and pedicures. We like to think our clients return for our professionalism, and our combined attention to their individual needs. It's been working now for 10 years!

Q) What advise do you give your clients about maintaining and looking after their hairstyle at home?

Unless a client can reproduce the look at home, we steer them into another direction for their hair. It's vital our busy clients can achieve the look â€“ even if it's a more casual version. So we have styling info included in all of our consultations, when we talk about the right brush to use, the best products and how to use the hairdryer or tongs. But many of our clients want more help than that. We have also introduced express services where our clients come to us with clean hair and in 20 mins we will straighten, curl or do a quick hairâ€“up and they can be on their way quickly. The idea is that there are times they come to us for total relaxation and then there are times they simply need quick results - an unexpected meeting, a night out, or a pick-me-up.

Q) With over a million visitors to our site a month, we are finding that Victoria Beckham's sassy shaped concave bob is just going crazy. Everyone wants it. How long do you think this trend will last and have you had many requests for it?

The Pob is popular the whole world over â€“ and yes, we have clients asking for it in Australia too! It will last, as it is easy to achieve and the shape of the fringe and front sections can be easily adapted to suit all face shapes. That's the hallmark of a great style. But we all love change, so the next look is just around the corner.

Q) Do you think clients are becoming more daring with their hair and trusting the choices of their stylists or are they still too afraid to try anything new?

We are always told by visiting hairdressers who come from abroad to work with Heading Out in Australia that our clients are very daring â€“ and much more adventurous than the English and European clients. Aussies are happy to try something new. And because we are a country of many cultures, we don't have one history, or one tradition. Hairdressers love Aussie clients, as we are all ready to give new ideas a go â€“ in our hair, our architecture, our food â€“ anything really!

Q) Lastly, do you have any hair tips or advise for our members and visitors?Â

Treat your hair well and it will give you years of service! Only let professionals color your hair and give it the same attention you give your skin!

After getting the opportunity to write about such a great chain of salons, it really makes me proud as a hairstylist to know that there are still hairstylists and salons out there that go above and beyond for their clients to make each hair and beauty experience one-of-a-kind.