Current British Hairdresser of the Year and TONI&GUY International Artistic Director Efi Davies on mentorship, craft and why hairdressing needs to stop gatekeeping its knowledge.
For Efi Davies, one of the greatest measures of success in hairdressing isn’t a title, a trophy or a viral post. It’s watching the next generation become better than you.
The British Hairdresser of the Year, current Avant Garde Hairdresser of the Year and International Artistic Director at TONI&GUY is calling on the industry to make mentoring and knowledge-sharing a core responsibility (not an optional extra) if hairdressing is to continue evolving without losing its standards of craft.
It’s a philosophy shaped by Efi’s own career. She began as an assistant to TONI&GUY founders Toni Mascolo and his brother Anthony in the 1990s, learning from the generation before her before going on to train and mentor countless young hairdressers herself.
“We are so lucky to be doing what we are doing,” Efi says. “Making clients feel amazing about themselves, working in the salon, becoming an image creator, working on shows and shoots, expressing our creativity through avant garde work – the possibilities are endless.”
For Efi, hairdressing is an inherited craft, with every generation responsible for building on what came before.
“Every generation of stylists builds on standards set by those before them, from Vidal Sassoon to Trevor Sorbie to Toni and Anthony Mascolo,” she says. “I believe it’s our generation’s responsibility to leave the industry stronger than they found it.”
That responsibility, she believes, has become even more important in an industry where social media can increasingly shape a young hairdresser’s idea of what success looks like.
“A high number of likes doesn’t mean you are a good hairdresser, and recognition can arrive and disappear overnight,” Efi says. “This means grounded, professional mentoring is more important than ever.”
And while she understands why some hairdressers might be protective of their techniques and knowledge, Efi believes holding onto information ultimately holds the industry back.
“I understand wanting to guard our techniques, but gatekeeping weakens the industry rather than strengthening it for the future.”
The answer isn’t simply teaching someone how to execute a technique, either. For Efi, true mentorship is about creating an environment where young hairdressers can experiment, develop their individuality and understand the standards that underpin great hairdressing.
“If we want hairdressing to grow, we have to be willing to make the next generation better than ourselves,” she says. “We don’t lose anything by doing that. We raise the craft as a whole.”
EFI’S FIVE WAYS TO HELP BUILD THE NEXT GENERATION
- Challenge them – and support them.
Be a sounding board for new ideas and remember the excitement you felt when you were starting out. Even in busy salons, creating a safe space for young creatives to experiment and express their individuality can make a huge difference. - Don’t gatekeep what you know.
Share your knowledge rather than protecting it. Passing on techniques, experience and insight doesn’t diminish your own value – it helps lift the standard of the industry as a whole. - Teach standards, not just technique.
Precision and technical ability matter, but so do discipline, client care and professional pride. The fundamentals of being a great hairdresser extend well beyond the finished look. - Don’t lower the benchmark to make training quicker.
Set the standard where it should be and give emerging hairdressers the support they need to reach it. It might take longer, but the result is a stronger foundation for their career. - Teach them what social media can’t.
Filters and followers come and go. Precision, creativity, technical excellence, communication and a commitment to the craft will stay with a hairdresser throughout their career.
For Efi, that’s ultimately what mentorship comes down to: not creating a generation that simply replicates the one before it, but giving young hairdressers the skills, confidence and freedom to take the craft somewhere new.
Because perhaps the best thing a great hairdresser can leave behind isn’t a signature technique or a collection of awards – it’s a generation that can do even more than they could.
Follow @efidavies.