Vidal Sassoon 1928 – 2012
Yesterday the world received the news that the man who revolutionized the way women’s hair was cut, Vidal Sassoon, had passed away. Famous for the classic bob and his five point cut, he has been liberating the women of the 60’s with his ‘wash and wear’ style. He has been called the Chanel of Hair, a rock star, an artist and a craftsman who “changed the world with a pair of scissors.”
The London born hairdresser’s fame started the day he made a cut for Nancy Kwan. The iconic bob, which was captured in a portrait by Terrence Donovan and broadcasted to the world through Vogue, was the starting point that led everyday women, models and film stars to his salon on Bond Street. Like any good ‘couturier’, Sassoon was not afraid of taking risks, experimenting and customizing his cuts to best fit his models’ features. “My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous”, he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1993.
The industry normally refers to fashion designers as artists who helped define our style history and way of life, but we dare to claim that Vidal Sassoon could be included in that group of names. He helped define the 60’s Britain, and saved the women who were going back to work, from dryers, curlers and hours at the beauty salons.
2010, “Vidal Sassoon: The Movie” was released and was a part of the Offical Selection of Tribeca Film Festival. A film documenting and celebrating the life and the legacy of the man who created the styles of icons like Mary Quant and Mia Farrow, and who according to American Vogue’s creative editor Grace Coddington “revolutionized just not hair, but fashion.”
Lisa Olsson Hjerpe
