Vidal Sassoon : The myth of hairdressing

On April 30th we celebrate the World Hairdressers’ Appreciation Day and on the occasion of this day, we will get to know better the story of a “great” legend of hairdressing who changed the world with his scissors!

The “father” of geometric shapes, Vidal Sassoon, revolutionized hairdressing in the 1950s.
Of Jewish parents, Jack Sassoon’s father was born in Thessaloniki
and his mother Betty was of Ukrainian descent.
In 1931 his father left his family for another woman and his mother because she was poor,
entrusted her children to the Jewish orphanage in London.

His first steps in the hairdressing art

At the age of 14, Vidal Sassoon dropped out of school and at his mother’s insistence,
to take up hairdressing professionally, he began working as an apprentice to the famous hairdresser Raymond Besson (1911-1992),
who believed that a woman should have short hair, as long hair adds years to her.

At the age of 17, although too young to fight in World War II,
became the youngest member of the 43 Group, an illegal organization of Jewish veterans,
which broke up the fascist meetings in East London.

Vidal Sassoon opened his first salon in London in 1954.
His first client was originally singer-actress Georgia Brown.
In 1964, Sassoon created a short, angular hairstyle in a horizontal plane that was a recreation of the classic “bob cut”.
He became known for the geometric shapes he gives to short-cropped hair, easily manageable by a woman,
who gets out of the house to go to work and doesn’t have time for a hairdresser.
So, this was the difference of the era in the complicated hairstyles that were in fashion and were based on long hair.

His recognition by the general public and the expansion of his work to the world

In 1966, inspired by the close-cropped hair of 1920s film star Clara Bow,
created designs for Emanuel Ungaro.
Director Roman Polanski brought it to Hollywood from London in 1968, at a cost of $5,000 (equivalent to $39,000 in 2021),
to create a unique pixie cut for Mia Farrow , who was to star in Rosemary’s Baby.

In the early 1980s he moved to the USA, where he lent his name to Procter & Gamble,
which creates a range of shampoos and conditioners that are popular all over the world.
Later on, with the method of franchising he created in M. UK and USA for the “Vidal Sassoon” chain of salons.

A life like a movie…

In 2010 his adventurous life was made into a film, entitled: “Vidal Sassoon: the movie”.
He married 4 times!
Sassoon therefore married his first wife, Elaine Wood, his receptionist in his living room in 1956.
The marriage ended in 1958, when Elaine left him for the then champion water skier David Naisons.
In 1967, he also married his second wife, actress Beverly Adams,
whom he met on the set of Torture Garden (1967).
They had three biological children and an adopted son: Daughter Catya (1968-2002),
an actress who died of a drug-induced heart attack, a son Elan BenVidal (born 17 January 1970),
a son David and a daughter Eden Sassoon.
Sassoon and Adams divorced after 13 years of marriage.
His third wife was Jeanette Hartford-Davis, a champion dressmaker and former fashion model.
So they got married in 1983 and divorced soon after.
In 1992, he married designer Rhonda “Ronnie” Sassoon.

His illness and death

In June 2011 the rumour circulated that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
Finally, Vidal Sassoon died on May 9, 2012, in Los Angeles at the age of 84.