Enter the front door of Christchurch hair salon Ginger Meggs and you confront an elaborately cracked mirror eight feet tall. It's an apt metaphor for the preoccupation we all have with what our hair reflects about ourselves to the world. By one industry estimate, New Zealand's 2500 hair salons turn over more than $350 million a year in services and products annually.

Image courtesy of Ginger Meggs & Associates Hair Designers

To acknowledge excellence in the profession, manufacturers of beauty products and the NZ Association of Hairdressers give away dozens of hairdressing awards. Before this year, however, no New Zealander had ever won the Australian Hairdressers Journal's master hairdresser award. In February an international panel of judges anointed Ginger Meggs owner Mike Hamel with the title. Hamel, 41, has more than 20 years experience in hairdressing. With his wife Glynis he runs Ginger Meggs, which is situated in a 1920s-something house on the fringe of up-market Merrivale shopping centre.

To earn master hairdresser status, Hamel had to demonstrate leadership in the hair dressing industry. He was judged on Ginger Meggs' training programme for apprentices, business policies, community service - Hamel has raised money for the Rainbow Trust and child cancer patients through hair shows - and the impact of its products on the environment.

At the top of the list of criteria for the award was Hamel's portfolio of hairstyles published in international magazines. Vogue, Hair Flair, Pavement, Fur, and Hairdressers Journal International are among the magazines that have published photo essays of his work.

Ginger Meggs produces four different collections of photos a year, which Hamel submits to fashion and hairdressing magazines. A photo shoot is a collaborative effort that involves the Ginger Meggs art team plus Christchurch clothes designer Saskia Sigrid Campbell and photographer Anthony McKee. Each shoot costs the company around $10,000.

"We interpret the things we see in life to create new looks. We take the things kids are wearing in the street and develop them, push them to the limit, and commercialise them. We travel a lot and pay a lot of attention to images in fashion magazines. For us Britain, Australia, and New Zealand are where hairdressing is at. We are inspired by London rather than Berlin, Paris or New York."

Image courtesy of Ginger Meggs & Associates Hair Designers

Hamel certainly struts what he cuts. His mass of blond dreadlocks demands attention, baggy doesn't begin to describe his jeans, and you can almost hear the shout of his loud, clashing shirts.

Yet to talk with Hamel is to talk with someone who blends edgy style with business substance. When Ginger Meggs began it had three staff, now it has 20. His business has thrived, Hamel says, because staff are trained to pay attention to detail.

"We don't sell haircuts, we sell an image. We are a family salon. We have clients from one year old to 90 years old. What distinguishes our clients is that they all want a bit of fashion and that is what we sell, our knowledge.

"For us to be successful our clients have to be comfortable. When people arrive in the salon we offer them a good cup of coffee. We treat everyone as individuals. We listen to them and with our eyes we listen to their body language. At the end of the day we want to get people's money and we do that by making them feel good. We nourish their souls and we meet that basic need we all have to be pampered."

Ginger Meggs also has its own "G" line of hair products. It includes such items as Gossip spray mousse, Groovy texturising cream, and Garnish spray shine. Keeping with the image, they are environmentally friendly and not tested on animals.

"Our hair products are part of our marketing strategy. They are top of the line, and when someone buys a bottle of our product, they are not just in the salon for half an hour. They have something in their bathroom that reminds them of us everyday," Hamel says.

Along with being an astute businessman, Hamel is also a keen sportsman. He plays cricket, snowboards, and surfs. He has also represented New Zealand in table tennis and wave skiing.

Hamel has plenty of ambition left. Having won the master hairdresser award, he now intends to win it 10 years in a row. And if any further proof is needed that appearances can be deceptive, he is also about to become a Rotarian.