I'm not sure if it was the beginning of time or the invention of the mirror either way, for a very long time our hair has had a major effect on our self image.
Ive heard it said that nothing affects confidence like our self image and nothing affects our self image like our hair!
For many years our business was built around neighborhood "beauty shops".
People would come and get their hair washed and set, one time a week you would see all of the ladies in your neighborhood whether you wanted to or not!
Something happened in the mid 1960's that would change our industry and the way we work forever.
Vidal Sasoon came along and started to show the world that it was no longer about setting the hair for weeks at a time.
What he did with a three inch pair of shears and gravity would dictate how people around the world!
As hairdressers we went from 50 "customers" a week, to 200 "clients" that came to the salon every six weeks.
A major revolution in style. Icons like twiggy and the Beatles where on the scene to solidify that cultural transformation.
For almost next decade and a half we transformed from firm hair that was never out of place, to soft touchable hair that shined and bounced as you moved.
Soon the product companies caught on. The industry started producing products that supported the health and shine of hair.
Redken turned "PH" into the buzz word of the industry! We where evolving from "beauty operators" to "Salon professionals".
Salons where branding themselves by aligning with Major product manufacturers.
High end chain salons began to appear everywhere and gave many future industry leaders a place to start.
The industry began to attract "Artist's", our median was hair. Many of the best competed around the world in competition's form avant garde to consumer fashion.
The skill level and mastry was truly sensational.
This core group of hairdressers are now responsible for many of the trends that we still see in the industry to this day.
Lots of these artist's (like Sam Villa, Omar Sassin And Michael Della Penna, to name just a few)
Still train students around the world. All of this happening at the end of the 70's through the late 80's.
Unfortunately the hair competition circuit is not nearly as popular as it once was.
If your ever at a major hair show and there is a competition floor, check it out, its amazing how talented the artist's are!!
Many of these artists worked in popular chain salons such as Mantrap and PHD (Professional Hair Designs).
Chain Salons really built their strength after the recession in the early eighties and were dominant till the early nineties.
Many of the seasoned salon leaders began to open independent salons. Middle and upper class salons really became the backbone of our industry until the present day.
The next generation is starting to emerge, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the large shift that comes with each passing day.
Something else is going on at this time. Much like the Rock-a-billy movement of the 50's, the underground London Punk music scene was building momentum.
Punk began to get world wide attention. The fashion industry was inspired by the energy and excitement of the movement.
A hairdresser named Paul Mitchell started to produce products that defied gravity and gave hair memory.
Perm and texture services exploded. And of coarse Mohawks and mall bangs! Hair color was also really beginning to catch on and companies began mastering more vibrant color that lasted longer.
Trevor Sorbie trademarked the Wolf man (a translated version was worn by Olivia Newton John) and the Wedge (which would inspire most short haircuts in the 90's) .
The 90's, by the way would prove to be a melting pot of retro fashion and never really gained a voice for itself, but how could it, shadowed by the eighties (which has never really gone away).
What's so interesting to me is how much money people would spend for some of the most mediocre hair and fashion in history.
I guess that's why what happened in the nineties will stay in the nineties !
I guess one thing was solidified.. at the end of that era, advanced highlighting and color was becoming the dominant income producer.
Texture services had taken a back seat and have not yet made the strong comeback that industry "experts" predict.
Oh, what a time that was ! Hairdressers, (good ones anyway) where making as much as doctors and lawyers.
And we treated our business as such, but boy were we fooled by the recession that would begin in the first decade of 2000...
So What happens now?? Stay tuned for our next blog!!
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