Vidal Sassoon - Career

Career

Sassoon trained under Raymond Bessone, in his salon in Mayfair. In 2010, Sassoon stated that "he really taught me how to cut hair...I'd never have achieved what I have without him." Sassoon opened his first salon in 1954 in London.

Sassoon stated his intentions in designing new, more efficient, hair styles: "If I was going to be in hairdressing, I wanted to change things. I wanted to eliminate the superfluous and get down to the basic angles of cut and shape."

Sassoon's works include the geometric perm and the "Nancy Kwan" hairstyles. They were all modern and low-maintenance. The hairstyles created by Sassoon relied on dark, straight, and shiny hair cut into geometric yet organic shapes. In 1963, Sassoon created a short, angular hairstyle cut on a horizontal plane that was the recreation of the classic "bob cut." His geometric haircuts seemed to be severely cut, but were entirely lacquer-free, relying on the natural shine of the hair for effect. Sassoon was a key force in the commercial direction of hair styling. His Vidal Sassoon brand was applied to shampoos and conditioners sold worldwide, with a commercial campaign featuring the iconic slogan "If you don't look good, we don't look good." Former salon colleagues also bought Sassoon's salons and acquired the right to use his name, extending the brand in salons into the United Kingdom and the United States.

Vidal Sassoon sold his US$113 million-a-year company in 1983 to Richardson-Vicks. The company was bought over by Procter & Gamble in 1985, whom he sued in 2003 for breach of contract and fraud in federal court for apparently neglecting the marketing of his brand name in favour of the company's other hair product lines such as Pantene. The two parties settled the matter the following year.

In 2002, the chain of Vidal Sassoon salons was sold to Regis Corporation. By 2004, it was reported that Sassoon was no longer associated with the brand that bears his name. He also had a short-lived television series called Your New Day with Vidal Sassoon, which aired in 1980.

Sassoon was twice a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, on 27 June 1970 and 9 October 2011, when he was also Resident Thinker on the Nowhereisland art project.

Sassoon was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.