This interview was published in 2009 for STYLING Magazine No. 010
• How are you these days?
These days I feel like an academic – ha-ha-ha … (a tease).
I find myself in a period of my career when I am dedicated to my “workshop”, organizing seminars and training young hairdressers. I can say that I am very pleased with the work of “Workshop” during this year. Since it has opened, the “Workshop” has hosted over 700 hairdressers. The teachers were many eminent names from the hairdressing industry as an example: Lee Stafford, Stacey Broughton, Maria Kovac and Marko Iafrate (members of the TIGI creative team), Maria Sunara main Matrix educator for L’Oreal Adria Group, Diter Kaiser Schwarzkopf educator for Schwarzkopf, Carl Zachau – Tigi licensed educator for Europe, etc …
• How did you come up to the present point in your career, how it all began?
– 1990, 27 May, and today I still remember the exact date in Tuzla, I became a youth Champion of Yugoslavia and my master and mentor became senior champions of Yugoslavia. I can say that those years the hairdresser’s school in Sarajevo was dominating in this region. It was my first award that I won, and perhaps most important for the development of my career.
• And then in 1991?
– Then the war began and we were waiting for four years to continue with our lives and work. Thank God we survived but it was tough…
• The start was Former Yugoslavia, what happened after that?
– Barcelona! My departure to Barcelona started with a call from Mrs. Lium, the owner of “La Pelu“ – chain of hairdressing salons in Barcelona. Previously, she had stayed in Sarajevo with all her hairdressers where we shared experiences. After that they invited me to come to Barcelona for two months to visit their salons and see the way they work… In Barcelona, I experienced completely new culture of hairdressing and a new way of relationship with fashion. So I can say that it was a significant and positive moment in my life for the improvement of my career. In that period, I think, I made the most important decision in my life – to accept the offer to stay and work in salons La Pelu in Barcelona, or to return to Sarajevo. Because I am very emotional person and all of the things that I have experienced in the previous period, I decided to return to Sarajevo. My decision did not influenced the cooperation with La Pelu and I can say that it is even more intense. I am very grateful to them, thanks Lium, Gloria, Hose, and Mons!
• What happens after the return to Sarajevo?
– Revolution – In the proper sense of the word! I first started to use zik-zak haircut technique, and introduced a completely new way of straight hairstyling. I stopped using cap for locks and rollers for mini-wave and introduced comb highlights. Then the rumors began: “How did he do the blow-drying, how did he do that haircut, he is really crazy”.
Today I have the reputation: “He’s the best but a bit crazy and expensive.”
• You were the first from this region who was performing at Cosmoprof – the largest hair and beauty fair in Europe?
– My cooperation with the Dixon company and the manager Sergio Stocca began approximately in the same period when I went to Barcelona. Then I was working as a colorist educator for the Dixon company at that time and constantly had trainings in Italy.
My first appearance in Sarajevo for the Dixon company, was performed at the Hotel Grand together with Somaschini, Angelo from Italy, Boba and Nada from Zagreb. As the youngest member of the team I had the task to find models, which made me a little bit of afraid. While we were cutting the hair on the stage, Kemal Monteno was singing. In the end everything turned out very well.
I have done many performances in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Croatia at the Zagreb Fair with the same team. To get back to the beginning, as a result of all this cooperation I got the invitation to perform at Cosmoprof 2005. This makes me the only person from this region who had performed at Cosmoprof with own models and the International Team of the Dixon company.
• “TIGI ERA”?
– I first came in contact with TIGI products while I was in Barcelona, and then the “TIGI ERA” started. In 2002 Tigi first appeared in Bosnia and Herzegovina thanks to my company Elvir system.
As any company needs an educated presenter, Tigi needed one for Bosnia, and I went on my first training session in London that was organized to create a TIGI ambassadors.
It may sound modest, but the truth is that in this training my colleague from Malta and I were chosen as the best. After that, we were chosen to perform together in front of TIGI – UNITECH at the hotel Hayat in Belgrade.
After my three training sessions for TIGI Ambassador, they allowed me to continue my education for TIGI educator.
I feel like I am part of the TIGI family because they are open and willing to socialize. I am honored because I had a chance to meet and spent a lot of days with many famous people from the hairdressing industry such as: Anthony Mascolo, GUY Mascolo, and the artistic soul Bruno Mascolo.
It is unbelievable how the TIGI Creative Team is unselfishly dedicated to the hairdressing job and it is really amazing starting the working day with them at the TIGI Academy. With no doubts, they are precedents not only in fashion and hairstyles, but also in a way of their functioning as hairdressers.
I have been to train in London at least 3 times a year for the last 8 years. Taking into the consideration the fact that I have past all the trainings through these years, last year I was named as TIGI Licensed Educator. There are only 5 hairdressers in the world named with this title.
Often I am not aware of what I have achieved, because everything happens to me so quickly.
One month I was part of the team and we were preparing the Show of Antony Mascolo and Creative Team, for the presentation of their latest collections – TIGI Rockaholic and UNITY. These collections were dedicated to TIGI‘s mearging with UNILIVER company, as well as the memory of late Gaetano (GUY) Mascolo.
• What is your current concept of working in Sarajevo?
– I founded my concept of work on the above-mentioned long-term experience, because I passed through many Academies and met many professionals in this work. I did not want to open Academy because I felt that the name Academy would not meet my ideas, It would have been Elvir’s Academy. For this reason I opened an educational center called “Workshop”, in gratitude to all people that I have cooperated with trough the years and I intend to continue my cooperation such as: Nick Irvin, Akos Body, Lee Stafford; Stacey Broughton, Marco Iafrate, Adee PEHLAN, Maria Kovac, etc …
In the end I use this opportunity to thank Styling Magazine, that helped the development of “Radionica” in the last two years.