Vidal Sassoon on the art of hairdressing, 1985
'Vidal Sassoon was here' proclaimed the cover of Observer magazine for April 21, 1985, comparing his craft to graffiti, as if he tagged all those braids before rushing to get look after his world range of products (which he sold in 1984 for £75m) - a cut and a run. Well, his catchphrase was, "If you don't look good, we don't look good."
The man who "has started a revolution with his scissors", then in his late 50s, called hairdressing an art form in his interview with Sally Brampton, to coincide with a retrospective exhibition at Hamiltons Gallery in London. Such an accolade for a barber seemed incredible at the time, but Sassoon was no ordinary tailor.
Although he didn't put scissors on the hair for more than a decade or whether he had lived in the UK since the mid-Swinging Sixties, he was a global legend and superstar, Brampton said. "Not bad for a man who started life in the poorest part of London's East End and spent his formative years in an orphanage."
In 1959 he created his first revolutionary group cut, 'The Shape' - a layered cut, the hair swept forward from the crown to fall in spikes at the curve of the jawline - which was the basis of 'The Five Point' in the early 1960s. "Women wanted, needed, freedom from the ritual of combing and doing their hair," he said.
The hairstyle was ripe for revolution and Sassoon hated the 'chi -chi' approach. "Oh, you know, the 'Oh, madam' syndrome, and the kiss on the hand."
He said he was proud of the dozens of young hairdressers who had left to create their own salons. When he sold the product company, he only owned 26% of the stock - the rest was owned by past and current employees. ,' Vidal suddenly added, 'You don't think X bought that house in Belgravia with saliva, do you? No, with conditioner. »
'Vidal Sassoon was here' proclaimed the cover of Observer magazine for April 21, 1985, comparing his craft to graffiti, as if he tagged all those braids before rushing to get look after his world range of products (which he sold in 1984 for £75m) - a cut and a run. Well, his catchphrase was, "If you don't look good, we don't look good."
The man who "has started a revolution with his scissors", then in his late 50s, called hairdressing an art form in his interview with Sally Brampton, to coincide with a retrospective exhibition at Hamiltons Gallery in London. Such an accolade for a barber seemed incredible at the time, but Sassoon was no ordinary tailor.
Although he didn't put scissors on the hair for more than a decade or whether he had lived in the UK since the mid-Swinging Sixties, he was a global legend and superstar, Brampton said. "Not bad for a man who started life in the poorest part of London's East End and spent his formative years in an orphanage."
In 1959 he created his first revolutionary group cut, 'The Shape' - a layered cut, the hair swept forward from the crown to fall in spikes at the curve of the jawline - which was the basis of 'The Five Point' in the early 1960s. "Women wanted, needed, freedom from the ritual of combing and doing their hair," he said.
The hairstyle was ripe for revolution and Sassoon hated the 'chi -chi' approach. "Oh, you know, the 'Oh, madam' syndrome, and the kiss on the hand."
He said he was proud of the dozens of young hairdressers who had left to create their own salons. When he sold the product company, he only owned 26% of the stock - the rest was owned by past and current employees. ,' Vidal suddenly added, 'You don't think X bought that house in Belgravia with saliva, do you? No, with conditioner. »
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