PRESS RELEASE: November 7, 2007

Having dominated the Philippine hair and beauty industry for almost 2 decades now, Hair Asia is set to expand its reach to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Still reeling from the tremendous success of the 17th National Open Championship for Hair and Makeup, Hair Asia’s untiring President & CEO, Evelyn Alvaran-Cruz wasted no time in flying to Japan to address a press conference in honor of Hair Asia.

Attended by journalists representing some 40 broadsheets and beauty magazines, the press conference was organized by Hair Asia’s Japanese collaborator Yasunori Matsumoto to announce the upcoming launch of Hair Asia-Japan on October 2007.

Even Evelyn was surprised at the huge turn-out which included representatives from the Intercoiffure Japan, the Asia-Pacific arm of the distinguished Intercoiffure Mondial de Paris.

Evelyn was pleased that many reporters have already heard about the enduring success and ever-expanding following of Hair Asia in the Philippines. “Discussions during the press conference mostly revolved around the Hair Asia experience here in the Philippines and how it will translate to the Japanese setting,” said Evelyn.

It also amused Evelyn that in Japan, the work and specializations of salon professionals were strictly defined.

“Much like an assembly line, you only cut, or color, or apply makeup, but never all of the above,” Evelyn said. “Being capable of doing everything, much like our Filipino stylists, is unheard of to them.”

Added Evelyn, “The very, very few who are versatile and skilled enough to be capable of multi-tasking are called creators.”

While there are benefits to this stringent system of job delineation, Evelyn believes that it has also served as a major impediment to the creative growth of many of their artists. This is primarily why the first ever Hair Asia-Japan Competition during its launch will only include the Ladies’ Haircut Category.

Said Evelyn, “This is a far cry from the Haircut and Color Design categories we normally have here in the Philippines, which also involve, of course, skillfully applying makeup to your models as part of the overall grading system.”

“I think that this is one of the reasons that Hair Asia’s expansion to Japan will be hugely mutually beneficial to both the Philippines and Japan.”

“We have much to learn from each other. While Japan is far more advanced in terms of cosmetic research, technology and production, it was very obvious that they were lacking the creative and imaginative edge that Filipino stylists are so well known for,” she explained.

Evelyn stressed that, “Through Hair Asia-Japan, we will help reinforce the trade relations between the Philippines and Japan which can well translate to increased Japanese investments in our country, and in return, we will be sending our top hairdressers, like our previous champions, to Japan to help expand their artistic horizons.”

“Strengthening our relationship with our Japanese counterparts can also equate to increased support to the Hair Asia Foundation,” added Evelyn. “With this expanded network, we are given wider access to our counterparts there to invite them to support the Foundation’s projects and programs for our local hairdressers.”

Evelyn’s trip to Japan incidentally coincided with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State Visit and she was quick to inform the President of the success of the press conference during President Arroyo’s meeting with the Filipino community.

“The President who had just attended our 17th National Open Championship for Hair and Makeup was surprised to see me there and she was pleased to hear about the press conference and the discussions made on future projects that will strengthen ties between the beauty industries of both countries,” Evelyn reported.

Hair Asia-Japan will be launched come October and needless to say, the Sun is shining brightly on Hair Asia.