Mary Rector-Gable Interviews Fergie & Other Major Inspo From Matrix Destination 2018

“Passion is everything,” said BTC Founder Mary Rector-Gable before the show. “I’m so excited for tonight because this is the first time Matrix has brought this many artists from all over the world together, and they truly are some of the best hairdressers in the world, and it’s such an amazing treat to have them here.” 

“Inspiration is the key to being creative and it’s all around us. Everything we need to be an artist is in front of us. We just need to find it within and make it our own," said Fergie to Mary before the show. 

"Seeing everything, this entire atmosphere [Matrix Destination] come together, it inspires my heart,” said Mustafa. “It makes me want to give so much more and it feels like it’s never enough, I always want to keep going and keep reaching. This has been one of my biggest goals to achieve, and I’m so proud to be here.” 

“We have a really wide variety of artists here tonight, from George Papanikolas, who is does celebrity hair, to Daniel Roldan, to Jamie Stevens from the UK, to myself,” said Danielle Keasling. “So we are all kind of coming from these different places all over the world, and to bind all of these perspectives into our show is something that we are really excited about.”

Jamie Stevens, British-based Matrix Artistic Director, came all the way from London to Matrix Destination 2018, and it was his first time educating at an American hair show. Mary congratulated him on being the youngest hairdresser ever to win British Hairdresser of the Year and for winning Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year in 2017. “Anyone who’s anyone in the UK is a member of the Fellowship for British hairdressing and it’s kind of like a cult, you know? We do so much stuff for free, and we put so much out there, and it’s all about nurturing and pushing the young guys within our industry,” Jamie said. And he likes to bring that same mentality to his Matrix family too. “I’ve been a global ambassador for Matrix for about five or six years now,” he said, “and you know, Matrix here [in the U.S.] is much bigger than it is in the UK, so it’s my job as an artistic director for Matrix to really push it!”

“It’s so important as an artist to be part of a show from its inception to its production to the performance. I got goosebumps when we did our dress rehearsal—it’s really going to be from the heart tonight,” Michelle O’Connor said. Paul Falltrick added, “Matrix is all about family. I’ve been with the company for so many years and I’ve been traveling around the world for them, and the family just seems to be getting bigger and bigger and better and better.” 

“I love Matrix because it’s all things to all people," said Nicholas French, "and I just love doing hair and I love a company that supports that.” Dan Csicsai shared, “We’re celebrating hair and giving the audience everything from commercial to avant garde. Matrix is all about being a family and helping every hairdresser elevate their skill level.”

Matrix had Russian Hairdresser of the Year Mila Belova and Australian Hairdresser of the Year Stevie English join Destination 2018, and here's what Stevie had to say: “You know, we talk the language of hair, and it used to be that trends would take two years to go around the world, but now it’s instantaneous. And with Mila, Jamie and myself here, we are really wanting to speak to that."