Streax Professional Unveils SPECTRUM Collection at MEGA SHOW 2024

Streax Professional, a leading professional hair care industry player in India, has made a splash at its 5th edition of the MEGA SHOW 2024 in Mumbai. The one-day event showcased cutting-edge techniques and trend-setting styles, solidifying the brand’s commitment to educating and empowering salon professionals. The SPECTRUM collection, launched at the event highlighted six extraordinary looks that blended innovation with artistry. The vibrant and versatile themes are designed to inspire creativity and push boundaries in the world of hair fashion.

The event provided a dynamic platform for hairdressers to learn and interact with industry experts. The SPECTRUM collection is not just about introducing new shades; it represents the brand’s commitment to innovation and creativity, embodying individuality, confidence, and style. The event also featured interactive demonstrations and hands-on sessions, highlighting the importance of education and empowering salon professionals with cutting-edge techniques and trends.

“We view education as the cornerstone of our industry. Our flagship event, MEGA SHOW, is dedicated to equipping the salon community with cutting-edge knowledge and skills”, said Rochelle Chhabra, Head at Streax Professional.

Streax Professional Unveils SPECTRUM Collection at MEGA SHOW 2024 — Photo Credits: Streax Professional

StyleSpeak exclusively interviewed Rochelle Chhabra on the launch of this range and here’s an excerpt of the Q&A.

For an Indian colour brand to come to being in India when powerful international brands had already established themselves, how did you achieve that?

Our parent company, HRI was always into hair colour with legacy products like Super Vasmol 33, and Kesh Kala. Then, there was nothing called ‘hair colour’ because, only when the international hair brands came in, did people in India become aware of it. So, hair colour as such, was always our forte – we have always had a strong R&D team and we of course know Indian hair and Indian sensibilities more than international brands. With extensive R&D, we understood what the global trends were and decided to adapt them to the Indian consumer.

When you moved from traditional to fun colours, what was the first thing that you had to build beyond the technical aspects of making the colour?

“There wasn’t access to the local salons then. Some 20 years ago, there was no proper professional education, it was just handed down from generation to generation, some 20 years ago. Then even for trends – we often relied on magazines so as to understand what was happening globally. . We started by travelling extensively, getting to know the nitty gritty, and educating.”

How many educators do you have on your roster today?

We have close to 45 educators across India led by Heena Dalvi, DGM of Education at Streax Professional.

Can you help us understand the concept behind the launch of this range?

We launched the funky colours two years ago. The challenge we understood was consumers realising that funky colours are not for us – these colours are meant for college students! That’s when we realized that we could teach them how these colours could be used creatively. Because women wish to stand out but at the same time exercise restraint. Salon fraternity is intelligent, once you teach them the know-how, they personalise it.

What gaps do you aim to fill in the market with this launch?

From salon experts to consumers, we have delved deeper into what more can be done, and offered in terms of post-care or what other needs can arise.

What was the concept behind the launching of the shades?

The idea was to make creative colours commercially viable.

How do you plan to take the collection across India?

We have many shows lined up on a larger scale as well as a smaller scale across India.

The event was followed up with a fashion show featuring 16 models showcasing the varied funky colour range. From wavy to sleek to curly hair, the models’ varied hair colours and styles made a point for the respective shades. Post the show, we interacted with the technical team. Speaking to us exclusively about the range was the Technical Ambassador Shirin Merchant, “The consumer is really going to love the new colour range of Streax Professional. May it be the spectrum collection or the six high lift shades.”

StyleSpeak also exclusively interviewed Vipul Chudasama, Creative Director with Streax Professional at the show, and here is an excerpt.

What was the concept behind this collection? Was it based on the season or trends, or on what Indians are looking for today?

The bread and butter of this brand are hair colours. Because of the hair colour industry, the market is growing and that’s why we thought, let’s do something called as SPECTRUM where all the looks are the main focus. When anybody, whether a consumer or a professional sees it should evoke a sentiment – ‘That’s beautiful hair color!’.

So far, we have been seeing more browns, mocha browns, cool browns, or in balayage, people have tried reds and ash. But here, it’s a totally different palette. Streax has two different verticals in color category which is Argan Secrets and then there are funky colors. So generally, when you do a collection for hair you always end up using commercial hair colors, not funky colors. Because funky color is a very niche market – you have 1% or maybe less than 1% in our entire country wearing those kinds of shades. Why? Because no hairdresser will ask you if you would like to try funky colour! Because the answer will be ‘No’ nobody asks!

Funky colors are very bold and out-of-the-box shades. Are hairdressers confident to use those colors?

A very good question. The answer would be NO. And that is the reason, we have worked on a very interesting program called ACT (Artistic Color Training). This is an intense program where hairdressers learn how to think about color, do color consultation, and learn how to play with all these funky colors as well as devise a combination of Argan Secrets and Funky Colors ranges to create looks that are much more wearable and effortless for normal consumers and not just for fashion, Instagram or videos or reels. It’s bold, but it’s very soft and wearable.

What is the age group or what is the segment that you aim to target with this range?

The age range for this category is from 16 to 45- 50 years. Because with the Funky Colors category, you can target the youth and with the Argan Secrets range of Streax, you can target from the age groups from mid-20 to 45-50 year-olds.

Even though hair color has been in our country for more than 20 years, people are experimenting with fashion colours only now. It also depends on the area and people’s mindset.

Is there a demographic or a geographical region that will adopt these funky colors more easily?

We have a lot of plans to create awareness for funky colors and do a lot of influencer activities. For the last couple of months, I have been hearing that they want, I mean the key clients or the salon chains. Surprisingly they want funky hair color training for their hairdressers because they want to explore this particular vertical which was not there in the last 20 years in the country. This colour is Streax’s in-house formulation. I was very surprised by this formulation by the R&D team. Generally, funky colours need to be done on pre-lightened hair. And when you do it on pre-lightened hair, it fades off easily. But funky colors stay for up to two months. Because the Streax pigments are so strong and deeply penetrative, it stays even if you frequently wash your hair. Another add-on feature is the quality which lends a beautiful sheen to the hair.

Shirin Merchant, Technical Ambassador at Streax Professional was also quoted saying, “The consumer is really going to love the new colour range of STREAX Professional. Whether is the SPECTURM collection or the six high lift shades, all of them are made keeping Indians sensibilities in mind, plus the funky shades can be tweaked into being used in a commercial manner.”

The MEGA SHOW series will now travel to other major cities across India, including Delhi, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Kolkata, and Chandigarh. Each event promises to deliver an unparalleled experience of learning and inspiration for salon professionals.