Taiwanese hairstyling talents shine during Goldwell’s Global Creative Awards

台灣髮型設計人才在 歌薇 全球創意大賞​​中大放異彩

Student wins New Talent Colorist gold in prestigious competition held by the Kao Salon Division


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A second year graduate student at Hungkuang University (HKU) named Harley Liu (劉浩宇) has become the global gold winner for Goldwell’s Global Creative Awards New Talent Colorist of the Year, Kao Salon Division announced on Monday (Oct. 4).

The competition was held by Kao Salon Division, which is “the fourth biggest professional beauty business in the world” and offers international press coverage in addition to a 2,500 Euro (NT$80,798) prize. In addition to Liu’s gold prize, his colleague from EROS Hair Styling Shi-Han Zhou (周詩涵) became the global silver winner for Avant Garde Stylist of the Year, while Taiwan’s K-Hans won silver for Salon Team of the Year.

In an interview with UDN, Liu said that as the New Talent Colorist awards were introduced last during the online ceremony with bronze prizes awarded first, he had to wait anxiously until the very last moment and did not dare confirm the presenters had uttered his own name until he heard the mention of “Taiwan.” He said that he “immediately showed the national flag in the livestream” and called his mother and grandmother back home to deliver the good news.

Liu told UDN that he decided to work in the hairstyling industry in order to better support his single-parent family and had to deal with gossip in his rural hometown, where gender stereotypes are still deeply embedded. However, thanks to his family’s support and the help of financial aid, he was able to attain his goal of becoming an international champion before his 25th birthday.

UDN quoted Zhou as saying, “I only wanted to scream upon hearing the announcement, I was so happy!” Zhou said though there are top stylists all around the world, Taiwanese people are also extraordinary and should never feel inferior.

According to UDN, Liu took inspiration from the color yellow, which he said is trendy in 2021 and signifies hope, and he combined it with the calmness of grey to create his work. Meanwhile, Zhou’s weather-themed avant-garde design features a “burning cloud” style, a “gloomy cloud” style, and a “thundercloud” style.