Objective
L’Oréal Colour Trophy 2026 marked the 70th anniversary of one of the hair industry’s most prestigious competitions, celebrating creativity, innovation and excellence across the UK and Ireland. Bringing together leading hair professionals, the event required a production approach that reflected the prestige of the brand while creating an engaging and immersive experience for competitors, judges and guests.
Our creative direction centred around the theme of Chroma, celebrating L’Oréal Colour Trophy’s Platinum anniversary through a visual identity that reflected colour, creativity and the heritage of the competition. The ambition was to create two distinctive productions across the UK Grand Final in London and the Ireland Final in Dublin that brought this milestone to life through innovative staging, impactful design and technically complex solutions, while reflecting the character of each venue.
Challenging the traditional competition format, the UK Grand Final at The O₂ Arena London, introduced an innovative 50m catwalk featuring a 360° stage concept that placed finalists at the centre of the action. The design immersed competitors within dynamic lighting, special effects and laser elements, creating a visually striking celebration of creativity and craftsmanship.
The London event centred around an ambitious ‘in the round’ stage concept within the complex environment of The O₂ Arena, requiring careful consideration of multiple audience viewpoints, increased technical demands and an efficient installation and removal process. The Dublin final focused on creating a bespoke production experience that elevated the competitor showcase through creative staging, branding and interactive guest experiences.
Solution
Working closely with L’Oréal’s creative production teams and Encore APAC’s Design Studio, we developed tailored production solutions for each location while maintaining a shared creative vision across both events. By combining creative strategy, technical expertise and production knowledge across regions, we helped bring L’Oréal’s 70-year celebration of creativity, innovation and excellence to life through experiences tailored to each venue and audience.
To deliver the ambitious design within the available timeframe, our teams carried out extensive pre-production planning, preparing equipment in advance, optimising rigging requirements and working closely with The O₂ Arena to ensure an efficient installation and removal process. Following the show, the full production was successfully removed within four hours, allowing L’Oréal’s ambitious creative vision to be delivered within the venue’s operational requirements.
For the Ireland Final in Dublin, we created a bespoke production experience designed to showcase competitors and their hair creations. The team delivered a striking black gloss thrust stage, allowing models to move further into the audience space, alongside a custom judging system, venue branding and a bespoke foil selfie booth to enhance the overall guest experience.
Through collaboration across regions, Encore delivered two distinctive productions that successfully brought L’Oréal Colour Trophy’s Platinum anniversary vision to life. By combining creative design, technical expertise and local venue knowledge, the events created immersive experiences that celebrated the talent of the hair industry and provided competitors, judges and guests with an elevated platform to experience the competition in a new way.
Event Production Services Provided
- Full Technical Production
- Creative Production Support
- Stage Design and Build
- Lighting Design and Production
- Audio Production
- Video Production and Content Management
- Special Effects and Laser Production
- Technical Production Management
- Rigging and Infrastructure Management
- Venue Branding and Environmental Design
- Custom Judging System Development
- Bespoke Interactive Experience Design
- Cross-Regional Collaboration Between Encore EMEA and APAC
