STYLING
Awards · Editorial

Daddy Issues: an award-winning collection

Styling for the Australian Modern Barber Awards 2025, and watching the work travel to seven countries.

By Daniya Sammour4 min read
Winner · Best ANZ Barber Collection – Freestyle, AMBA 2025
Winner · Best ANZ Barber Collection – Freestyle, AMBA 2025

In 2025 I styled two collections for Jordan Donegan of Studio X, made for the Australian Modern Barber Awards. One of them, ‘Daddy Issues’, was a bold editorial story about identity and self-expression, and it became one of the projects I’m proudest of.

The result

Where it travelled

What surprised me most came after the awards. The collection was picked up by ten international hair and beauty publications across seven countries, each one crediting me as stylist:

“The difference between a good collection and an award-winning one.”

Jordan Donegan · AMBA 2025 Winner, Studio X

What it taught me

Hair collections live or die on the full picture. The cut is the hero, but the wardrobe has to frame it, push the story and never compete with it. Getting that balance right across a whole collection is a styling challenge I love.

Seeing the work printed in places I’ve never been was a reminder that you don’t need to chase reach. If the work is good and properly credited, it finds its own way.

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