Vidal Sassoon The Movie

When it comes to famous hairdressers, who comes to mind? Surely, Vidal Sassoon must be included. He has made quite the impact on the world with his talented ability to cut hair. After seeing this amazing documentary, it is very clear he did, in fact, "changed the world with a pair of scissors".
This film, directed & edited by Craig Teper and written by Heather Gordon, was shown at the 2010 TriBeca Film Festival. It was witty, fun, and educational. I personally did not know much about Vidal Sassoon and how his career was jump-started. I wasn't even born yet when he made his mark in hairdressing during the 50s-70s.

He lived a tough childhood; his dad left the family when he was young & lived in an orphanage because his mother could not support him. He became a soldier in Israel and he cut gloves where he first learned about geometry. Later on in his life, he became an apprentice at a hair salon where he started to learn about the trade. He was forced to take elocution classes to improve his speaking skills (he previously spoke poorly w/ a Cockney accent).

Fast forward a few years, and he opened up his own salon on Bond Street in London. He was the first one to have a salon where pedestrians walking on the sidewalk can see inside the salon & see people getting their hair done. He experimented with geometric shapes, and he cut hair with a passion. In the documentary he was described like "he was dancing, making faces" and "he cut with his entire body".

He created the bob cut (in addition to the 5 point hair cut and many more other hairstyles.) The image in the movie poster as well as the one below is of Nancy Kwan. After cutting her hair, this photo has been featured in multiple Vogues! (US, UK, Italian, etc.) Furthermore, he cut Mia Farrow's famous pixie cut in Rosemary's Baby in addition to Mary Quant's hair (she's the one who created the miniskirt!)
Below is a picture of Vidal Sassoon with Grace Coddington!
He was incredibly talented and he always strives to deliver impeccable work. He was strict on his staff (known for sending them home if they did not look their best). Sassoon was a perfectionist; he also paid attention to what could be improved & was always a believer for innovation.
To this day, his looks are still fresh and modern. There were many hairstyles like the above during the latest Fashion Weeks.

The movie will be released in New York on February 11 and in Los Angeles Feb 18. It will be in other markets nationwide in late February and March. Furthermore, to check out more information about the movie, check out their website.

Images 1, 5, 6 from Phase4 Films/42West Marketing
Image 2 from Modern Salon
Image 3 from HK in the 60s
Image 4 from Flickr