100 Most Influential People in Fashion

Fashion Influential #22: Vidal Sassoon

Legendary hairstylist Vidal Sassoon attends a party in West Hollywood in 2006.

VIDAL SASSOON
Born:
January 17, 1928 in London, England
Died:
May 9, 2011 in Los Angeles, California
Famous Cut:
Mia Farrow's $5,000 cut for Rosemary's Baby
Fans:
Mary Quant, Nancy Kwan,
Fan of:
Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster
Beginnings.
In 1948, Vidal Sassoon went to Israel to fight in the Israeli War of Independence. He wanted to stay in Israel and study to become an architect, but he returned to London to help out his struggling family. His mother insisted he find a profession - and helped him land an apprenticeship with a distinguished hairdresser, Adolf Cohen.

Career Highs.
During his apprenticeship, Sassoon began to develop an appreciation for geometry. When he opened his own salon in 1954, his love of angles began to show up in his work, with the invention of strikingly modern cuts like the asymmetrical five-point. Sassoon's dreams of becoming an architect may have been deferred, but his architectural approach to hair made eventually made him the most sought-after hairdresser of the 1960s.
Hair is nature's biggest compliment and the treatment of this compliment is in our hands. As in couture, the cut is the most important element...haircutting simply means design and this feeling for design must come from within.
- Vidal Sassoon

Sassoon designed Mary Quant's signature bob.
Career Lows.
Sassoon retired for hairdressing in the 1970s, turning his attention instead to licensing deals. In 2003, he sued cosmetics giant Procter & Gamble for destroying his brand by marketing other lines like Pantene over his own. By 2004, it was reported that he was no longer associated with any of the products in his own name.

Legacy.
Sassoon made hairstyling more accessible to people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. As he once said in an interview, "What I did, threatened many hairdressers, some hated it. Hairdressing was no longer elitist, just for those who could afford to come each week for a shampoo and set. It became instead a monthly haircut for anyone—nurses, shop and office workers. It was affordable."

Actress Selma Blair has been spotted with a Vidal-inspired cut. Get the Look.
Sassoon may no longer be affiliated with the salons in his name (he sold them to Regis Corporation in 2002), but it's still easy to find a look he inspired. Many geometrical short cuts that we see on today's top stars, from Victoria Beckham to Katie Holmes, are variations on simple, low-maintenance looks Sassoon developed. Ask your hairstylist for a simple, wash-and-wear short cut, but beware: most of the best cuts are designed for stick-straight locks.

- Alicia