Heroes In The Hair Industry — Do You Know An ICON?

We all know that one person who deserves to be recognized — in addition to excelling at their jobs, they go above and beyond to spark wider change. Whether they are focused on the environment, improving the industry, impacting their community, or everything all at once, they are passionate about creating positive choices. As a brand dedicated to improving the environment and the world around us, we’re looking to find those change makers, the ICONs of the industry, and celebrate them!

More than just a competition, the ICON is an award that signifies a stylist’s excellence in and out of the salon. In addition to leading the salon industry, ICONs are impacting the environment, people’s lives, and the community around them.

Shifting the focus to these heroes in the hair industry, we need help locating the stylists who lead creatively, impact the lives of those around them, make positive choices for their communities, and focus on making global change.

Whether this sounds like you, your stylist, or someone you know — we want to hear about it. Learn more about submissions and entries here!

Held every two years, we are now looking for the 2024 KEVIN.MURPHY ICON. Submissions are open from January 4th, 2024 — February 19th, 2024. The winner will then be announced in April of 2024, with an on-stage celebration at the KEVIN.MURPHY REFLECTIVE PERSPECTIVE Show in Budapest on June 9, 2024.

• Diamond Tickets with VIP Seating 
• Flights & Accommodation in Budapest 
• Backstage Tour 
• Celebration on stage 
• CASH PRIZE of USD $5000 
• FEATURE PIECE — An internal team from KEVIN.MURPHY will visit the KEVIN.MURPHY ICON to do a feature piece for FREE.STYLER Blog and Social Media.

The 2024 ICON Award jury is led by Kevin Murphy, Eileen McHugh of Hair Together and the KEVIN.MURPHY ICON 2022 Winner, Kristin Rankin of The Dresscode Project, Hair & Makeup Artist Max May, and Climate Activist and Mental Health Advocate, Tori Tsui.

The 2022 ICON Award was presented to HAIR TOGETHER, a salon based in Dublin, Ireland.

They developed a 10-week educational and personal development program that utilises hairdressing and barbering to stimulate creativity and develop life skills for disadvantaged or struggling youth in the community. 

Speaking about winning the 2022 ICON Award, Eileen McHugh said, “Winning the ICON Award, really put us on the map, and had other people looking a bit closer. It accelerated our growth.”