Vidal Sassoon
Vidal,Sassoon,At,The,Billy,Wilder,Theater,Opening,Tribute.,Hammer
Born: Hammersmith, London, 1928
Died: Los Angeles, U.S., 2012
Renowned as one of the most famed hairdressers, Vidal Sassoon CBE is celebrated all over the world for revolutionising the art of hairdressing forever. He changed the face of women’s hairdressing in the 1960’s by introducing sharp, simple and short cuts for women and ending the over the top beehive of the 1950’s.
Born in Hammersmith, London in 1928, he was too young to serve in the army in World War II and so started training in a salon Mayfair under Raymond Bessone. Sassoon often mentioned how grateful he was to Bassone, and how he and his haircutting techniques influenced him, and as a result, this allowed him to open his first salon in 1954.
Sassoon’s hair styles and cuts were the complete antithesis of what the 1950’s had offered. Gone was the shoulder length, shiny, overly feminine mane of the bombshells of the Fifties. Instead Sassoon modelled new geometric and symmetric shapes on slim, waif like girls, styles which required minimum styling and were low maintenance. Sleek boobs with an almost reflective-like shine became the new must-have do, along with striking angular cuts which gave the look an almost boyish element.
In his day, Sassoon cut some of the most famous heads of hair around, from fashion designer Mary Quant’s sleek and angular short bob to Mia Farrow’s pixie crop, he quickly became one of the most after hairdressers of all time. However one of Sassoon’s most memorable creations was the ‘Kwan cut’, as seen on actress Nancy Kwan. Sporting a volumous and feminine bob, the hairstyle went international and soon women everywhere were after this trend.
Sassoon’s revolutionising legacy lives on today in influencing women’s haircuts, from Victoria Beckham’s version of the bob (‘Pob’) to Anne Hathaway’s pixie crop, women all over the world strive to get the Sassoon influenced look.
Vidal Sassoon Biography
