| EVENT REPORT 06.25.08 11:49 AM |
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| Genius at Work |
| On the eve of its second season, contestants from Bravo's Shear Genius convened at an artistically inspired pop-up salon in Times Square to offer free blow-outs. |
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To promote the second season of its hairstyling competition show Shear Genius, Bravo put on a publicity stunt that could easily serve as the premise for a new program. The cable network enlisted students at New York’s School of Visual Arts to design extravagant chairs for a pop-up salon in Times Square’s Military Island designed by their mentor, SVA chair Kevin O’Callahan. Contestants from the series used the salon to give free blow-outs to fans and passersby for two hours on Tuesday afternoon.
“We used the ad campaign as our inspiration for the event,” said Bravo's director of marketing and events, Valerie Brown, of the image that features a pair of scissors stabbed into the back of a salon chair. “I thought of the cow parade and all the different sculptures spread across the city, but if we wanted to do a salon, we’d obviously need all of the chairs in one place. Times Square seemed like the perfect high-traffic spot.” |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | The salon and waiting area took up most of Military Island.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | Guests who nabbed a good enough spot in line received free styling tips and an inside perspective on life on the show during their blow-outs.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | The backyard chair sat on a base of miniature beer kegs and a coiled garden hose.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | Customers left with bags of free hair products from Nexxus.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | The promotional campaign that inspired the pop-up wallpapered the salon.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | One chair had guests sitting on a record player, with a giant set of headphones hovering above them.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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Bravo turned to the School of Visual Arts’ 3-D design students to come up with the idea of the chairs. Brainstorming resulted in 50 different ideas, 10 of which were selected and constructed for the salon. Themes included a beach chair, a gym chair, and a new spin on the lawn chair, with Astroturf, miniature kegs, a fake grill, and a garden hose making up the sculpture. Stylists also worked from quintessentially New York chairs such as one constructed of giant NYPD paraphernalia and another made from a giant baseball.
The first 100 guests also walked away with a gift bag of products from sponsor Nexxus. The hair-care company hosted a similar event with contestants from the first season of Shear Genius at the Time Warner Center last summer.
—Michael O'Connell
RELATED TOPICS
Bravo, Shear Genius, S.V.A., Pop-Ups
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