Stefan Ackerie, Australian multimillionaire hairdresser, has brought a record of 140 Australian stylists to Hong Kong for a hairdressing study tour and a related conference.

Describing the reason for the arrangement of the tour, Ackerie was quoted by Sunday's South China Morning Post as saying "Hong Kong people used to be the students, now they're the teachers. They are being so innovative," and "Hong Kong and Japan are setting tomorrow's hairstyle trends together."

The Brisbane-based entrepreneur has one of Australia's largest hairdressing chains, with 50 salons.

The stylists, who won the trip for their outstanding creativity and business prowess, will arrive in two groups for the two-week conference that ends next Saturday, said the newspaper.

Ackerie, who has been visiting Hong Kong for 35 years, said he wants to tap the expertise of Hong Kong's innovative hair stylists and bring the trends to his growing Asian element, as at least 10 percent of his 1.5 million customers are of Asian backgrounds.

Ackerie said Hong Kong offers the techniques of tomorrow. The stylists' use of colors on Asian hair to create texture and depth is inspiring his stylists.

He believed that curls are coming back and the evolution of hairstyle trends advance slowly.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2005)