1963: Cutting Janette Scott's hair
According to official reports, renowned hairstylist and fashion icon Vidal Sassoon passed away on May 9th at his home on Mulholland Drive.
1964: Cutting Mary Quant's hair
Sassoon, a figure who profoundly influenced the worlds of hairstyling and fashion, became the subject of a documentary in 2010.
1965: Designed model hairstyles for Grace Coddington
According to a 1999 Los Angeles Times profile, Sassoon began working at age 14. As a "shampoo boy," he mixed hair dyes, handling bleach, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia.
1967: Cutting Mia Farrow's hair
"The ammonia bottles were always locked up because if you spilled it, the smell would permeate the entire neighborhood, not just one salon," he explained.
1972: Photographed with his wife Beverly
His first salon opened in London in 1954."I gave myself five years. If I couldn't make it, I'd walk away."
1986
"When I first entered hairdressing, ladies would come in for a style, and you'd have to put a cap on their head and work the hair around the shape of the cap," Sassoon said.We learned to apply principles of geometry, architecture, and skeletal structure to create hairstyles with defined rules. The cut had to be perfect, with beautiful layers, so when you shook your head, the hair fell backward and inward (not forward and messy)."
1993
He finally opened a salon in New York. In 1973, his hair care products debuted.Years later, he relocated to Los Angeles. By 1980, he even briefly hosted his own talk show in the United States. A poor boy from London's East End had carved out an extraordinary life. 2006 2011 Vidal Sassoon was married four times. He wed his current wife in 1992.
The Father of Hairstyles—The Sassoon Hairdressing Legacy
"Sassoon changed how people thought about hair. He didn't love money—he loved hair."
—Grace Coddington, the first supermodel to model Sassoon hairstyles
"You can't wear music, but you can change your hairstyle."
—In the 1960s, both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were friends of Sassoon, who was truly the Beatles of the hairdressing industry.
Industry insiders noted that Sassoon was not only a globally renowned top hairstylist but also extended his influence into the business world. By opening salons, founding hairdressing schools, and developing products, he revolutionized the hairdressing industry.
A Troubled Childhood
California police and Sassoon's family announced on the 9th that he passed away at his Los Angeles residence surrounded by loved ones.
"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Vidal Sassoon..." his family stated in a release, "who today succumbed to his battle with leukemia."
Born in London, England in January 1928 to Jewish parents, Sassoon spent eight years in an orphanage after his father abandoned the family.He left school at 14, and his stepfather agreed to fund his training as a hairdresser.
"It was my mother's idea," Vidal said of entering the hairdressing trade, "she didn't think I had the head for starting my own business."
In 1948, Vidal went to work on an Israeli kibbutz.That year, Sassoon found his calling and resolved to dedicate himself fully to hairdressing. Six years later, he opened his first salon on Bond Street in London's West End. Hairdressing Genius Sassoon once secretly vowed that if he couldn't change hairstyle trends within ten years of starting his career, he would switch to architecture. However, his design style quickly won over women, and his salon soon became bustling with customers.
He drew inspiration from architecture worldwide, passionately using precise cutting techniques to create natural, low-maintenance styles. His revolutionary three-step haircare method—"wash, cut, blow-dry"—liberated countless women from time-consuming daily hair routines.
"When I first started hairdressing, female clients would walk in, and you'd put a cap on their head and style around it," Sassoon told the Los Angeles Times in 1999. "I gradually realized we needed geometry, architectural forms, and human skeletal structure to establish rules for cutting. The cut must be flawless and layered.That way, all a woman had to do was shake her hair, and it would fall naturally."
After introducing the "bob" hairstyle in 1963, Sassoon gained widespread fame for the hairstyle he designed for American actress Mia Farrow in the 1967 film Rosemary's Baby. "Sassoon" soon became a buzzword in fashion circles across America and Europe.
Business Visionary
Though thriving in hairdressing, Sassoon never stopped advancing. He turned his sights to the business world, opening salons and hair academies globally while developing a line of haircare products. He promoted his brand, signature styles, and cutting philosophy worldwide.
He authored books to bolster his commercial empire. In 1967, Sassoon published his autobiography, Sorry You Had to Wait, Madam; in 1976, he collaborated with his second wife, Beverly, on a new book, A Year of Health and Beauty.
Despite these achievements, Sassoon maintained until his death that the hairdressing industry lacked the respect it deserved.
"Overall, hairdressing hasn't received the honor it deserves," he told Reuters in a 2010 interview. "It isn't recognized by enough people as a valuable profession."
Shaw was a die-hard fan of Chelsea Football Club and an avid philanthropist. In 2009, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the Commander of the Order of the British Empire.