What Vidal is to America, Stefan is to Australia. Stefan Ackerie is Queensland's most famous hairstylist, with more than 50 salons Down Under. The Brisbane-based hair king is visiting with 140 stylists to study Asian hair trends from local experts. At the sessions we witnessed, top stylists from Hair were demonstrating the latest techniques, colours and trends.
With a growing Asian population in Australia, Stefan says he regularly visits here or Tokyo to study Asian hairstyling. 'Tokyo is farther, and we like the food and shopping better here,' he says.
The Lebanese-born Stefan arrived in Australia almost 50 years ago, but couldn't speak a word of English. Now he owns a multimillion-dollar empire. Still, even Stefan has bad-hair days. 'They are a part of life,' he says. 'But you don't need to have bad attitude days.'