Sporting a Patiala-styled pant, a simple shirt, and a light shawl around the neck, Joakim Roos glided in at the Hilton Chennai. Inside, was a bevy of models and inquisitive hair stylists, waiting for the Swedish hairdresser to demonstrate his art. In the city for an event titled ‘Hair & Beyond’, hosted by Streax Professional, he, along with actress Lakshmi Raai, were promoting the haircare brand’s latest line of products, mimicking the older hairstyles with a twist of modernism — ‘Retro Remix’.
Joakim is all humility in his actions, but actually has quite a few awards under his belt. A keen believer in an education in styling, he has worked with the Institute of Hairdressers and Beauticians (IHB) in India and Sri Lanka, helping them develop their programmes.
In conversation with the talented artiste, who shares a strange resemblance to Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean , he recounted his entrance into hair styling: “My mom was a fashion designer, so, I was born into this madness at an early stage. I started my career with fashion, but it’s too tedious. Hair is instant gratification and can change personalities, that’s why I picked it.”
For the past 20 years, he has been working in different cities of India, and claims to “know the culture quite well.” “India is an amazing market!. I’m working in the field of education, and we take education for granted in the West; it should be given to us. But here, you have to earn it, so it’s respected.”
“It’s a tremendously growing field, but it may take some time because of the norms of society but, I think in general, fashion is influencing different areas. It’s a global market, but, Indians have to localise it and make it theirs.”
Joakim was assisted on the gig-style stage by Agnes Chen, technical head of Streax Professional and Sameer Hamdare, the zonal technical manager (West and South regions) who said that: “Chennai is the sixth city in over 45 days that we are holding this styling event in,” adding that they would continue to tour cities like Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and more with the same theme – retro remix.
Talking about inspiration and creativity, Joakim said that he gets his ideas from literally everywhere: “I have the good fortune to travel to 35 countries a year minimum, and I’ve done so for 30 years. This means I pick up ideas from different cultures, venues, philosophies, social status, and that becomes lifestyle trends of today. It’s a big motivator for me.”
As for his own hair: “I get Bob Marley or Captain Jack Sparrow. Either way, I hear it every day. But no, I just love it — carrying dreads is the very essence of a different mindset, of a different lifestyle, so yes that’s the story behind my hair.”
