Sassoon brings hair styling exhibition to downtown L.A. Art Walk

Those who doubt that hair styling is an art may want to check out a new offering at the monthly Art Walk in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. 

Jeremy Davies-Barbala, senior creative director for Sassoon Salon in Beverly Hills, is orchestrating the premiere of Sassoon at the Art Walk, designed to highlight hair style as a creative statement.

Essentially, models in the windows of the Robert Reynolds Gallery will present a collection of artistic styles, focused on the most creative aspects of color and cuts. The presentation will occur in 20-minute increments from 8:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. at the gallery, 408 S. Spring St. 

I suspect the styles will go beyond the now-classic look the late Vidal Sassoon gave actress Nancy Kwan, shown here, in his heyday -- but even this one was considered ground-breaking in its time for the structure and architectural quality for which Sassoon became famous.

The downtown L.A. Art Walk happens on the second Thursday of each month, mostly in and around the galleries on Spring and Main streets between 2nd and 9th streets.

 

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--Susan Denley

Photo: The Vidal Sassoon bob that shook the world -- on actress Nancy Kwan. Sassoon style is coming to downtown Los Angeles' Art Walk. Credit:Terence Donovan

 

Vidal Sassoon: Remembering an L.A. style icon

When most people think of the British-born Vidal Sassoon, who died Wednesday at age 84, they think Carnaby Street.

But he also had a role in shaping Los Angeles as a city of style.

"He opened a salon on Rodeo Drive when Beverly Hills was just coming of age among trendsetters," said Rose Apodaca, author and former Los Angeles bureau chief of Women's Wear Daily. "And he saw Los Angeles as this exciting place where rules were being broken. We know about swinging London; he saw Los Angeles as an extension of that."

He was drawn to the avant-garde fashion and art scene in 1960s and '70s L.A. that revolved around designer Rudi Gernreich and model-muse Peggy Moffitt (pictured with him above), who has worn Sassoon's famous five-point haircut since 1965.

"I can remember showing him Rudi's sketches and explaining how he and Rudi were doing something very similar by thinking architecturally and not out of the same old box," Moffitt said Thursday.

When Sassoon moved here permanently in 1973, he fully embraced the L.A. lifestyle, becoming a major museum benefactor and modern art collector, and restoring homes by Neutra and others. He was also a fitness enthusiast, early to the trend of Pilates and an avid swimmer.

"Vidal always loved Los Angeles," said Etienne Taenaka, manager of the Sassoon salon in Beverly Hills. "He used to say the street is the longest runway in the world. And he loved looking at people here. He’d say, 'Etienne, she has tremendous style.'”

Through his Vidal Sassoon hairstyling schools, he influenced people of all ages. "He was a gentleman, genuine and generous," said Taenaka, adding that a memorial event is being planned for the fall.

"He always thought of the other person, which stems from his beginnings as a very poor kid from the East End. In a number of ways, his career was all about recognizing youth and giving them opportunities. When he would walk into any of our academies, people just clamored to be with him."

To read more about Sassoon's legacy in L.A., click here.

-- Booth Moore

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Photo: Hairstylist Vidal Sassoon and model Peggy Moffitt attend a screening of "Vidal Sassoon: The Movie" at the Hammer Museum on Feb. 15, 2011 in Los Angeles. Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images.

For Rossano Ferretti, it's all about hair -- and world domination

Italian hair stylist Rossano Ferretti has a patented hair cutting method, salons in the toniest neighborhoods in the world and reportedly commands $1,000 a haircut.

Writer Alene Dawson recently visited his new salon in Beverly Hills. Ferretti would neither confirm nor deny the price for a cut from his own hands, but he did talk about his ambitions, his idol (Vidal Sassoon) and what goes into a really great haircut, as reported in the Image section on Sunday.

I wonder if I could afford a bangs trim?

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Photo: Newly styled Angie Rittenberry smiles as master stylist and trainer Christian Serafini looks on at Metodo Rossano Ferretti hair salon in Beverly Hills. Credit: Christina House / Los Angeles Times.

Brushing up on hair history: "Vidal Sassoon: The Movie"

 

There's no doubting how Michael Gordon, founder of hair company Bumble & Bumble and producer of the upcoming documentary "Vidal Sassoon: The Movie," feels about his subject.

In the first few moments of the film, Sassoon is described as the "Dior of hairdressers," "Einstein" and "the Messiah." It's all a bit tongue-in-cheek, for sure. But the film is still an incredibly flattering portrait of the British hairdresser who changed the look of women's hair in the 1960s, creating geometric, wash-and-wear cuts that were their own kind of liberation and echoed the sharp lines in fashion at the time.

The project started out as an 80th birthday tribute book for Sassoon and became a movie when Gordon brought in director Craig Teper. The result is a rags-to-riches documentary told through interviews with Sassoon and his friends.  

Between the treacly parts, there are plenty of fascinating facts about the man, now 83, who had the foresight to open Vidal Sassoon styling academies around the world and to launch a product empire with the famous tag line, "If you don't look good, we don't look good." [Updated]*

Whether you're just brushing up or reading about Sassoon for the first time, here's a crib sheet: