Award Winning Hair

Scenes from the 1974 IBS Competition
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Scenes from the 1978 IBS Competition
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Dennis is record holder as the only person ever

in the history of the 91-year old International Beauty Show (IBS) to win first place twice for haircutting!

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Camp Hill, Pennsylvania

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Dennis O'Dell, Twice First Place International Award Winner

Haircutting Color & Design - The Art and The Craft

March 1974

March 1978

On stage in 1974 at the New York Hilton's Grand Ballroom, in front of an audience of 4,000 professionals, Dennis won his Initial First Place Venus Medallion by introducing New York to the Wedge two years before Dorothy Hamill made the style an international fashion favorite.

Dennis entered the competition again four years later in 1978. When asked "Why" by the NY Times, he remarked "I wanted to prove to everyone, including myself, that it wasn't just luck that I had won in 74!" Dennis won his second First Place Venus Medallion on stage that year at the New York Coliseum where 53,000 people attended.

Competition is always fierce at the world renown IBS New York where the emphasis is on the hair cut, the foundation of any hair style. Finished styles or blowouts are not expected nor required.

While no electricity was allowed on stage, nowhere did the rules say that Dennis could not manually dry his

"Curly Cleo" at the 1978 competition. He wanted the judges to see the full effect of the completed dry style rather than the suggestion that a wet look would portray.

There were 124 International Competitors vying for the coveted Venus Medallion during the 1974 competition and Dennis won first place with one of the highest scores for technical execution ever recorded - an astounding win!

A panel of 7 judges took a painstaking four hours to comb through each model's cut in order to intimately inspect every detail of the art, craft, and technical execution.

Dennis placed first among a field of 86 International Competitors, including entries from Korea, Great Britain, Japan and Italy.

Upon winning his second First Place Venus Medallion, Vidal Sassoon congratulated Dennis for his "outstanding artistry and creativity" and shook his hand. This was an incredible honor.

To learn more about Dennis' three decades in the industry, click here