Those of us lucky enough to still have hair can seek out Taiwan’s newest hairstylist champion and maybe even sport one of his pandemic-inspired creations.
When the hosts of the 2021 Global Creative Awards announced Taiwan’s Liu Haoyu to be one of this year’s winners, he appeared on a screen holding the Taiwanese flag, and unable to hide his excitement.
Global Creative Awards are an important international competition in the world of hairstyles, with participants from over 30 countries.
[Liu] Liu says it’s not easy to win the award: the last time Taiwan got one was in 2014.
He is a student at Taichung’s Hungkuang University where he is getting a Master’s degree in Applied Cosmetics. His hairstyles lay down streaks of red and yellow over a base of black and grey, symbolizing rays of hope amid the chaos of Covid-19. It was those creations that won him this year’s New Talent Colorist award.
Liu says he gets the most support from his grandma and mom. He comes from Yunlin in central Taiwan, where, according to him, a boy becoming a hairstylist is not widely accepted.
He says the first thing he did after receiving the award was to call his grandma and thank her for all the support.
Liu’s classmate Zhou Shi-han is a GCA awards runner-up, presenting hairstyles inspired by weather and clouds.
Taiwanese designers receiving recognition in an international competition is much-needed good news at a time of uncertainty and turbulence caused by the global pandemic.