Vidal Sassoon
British hairstylist who repopularised geometric cuts and built a global salon chain.
Last updated
He repopularised a geometric five-point cut worn by fashion designers and film stars.[1] He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s and opened the first worldwide chain of hairstyling salons.[2] Vidal Sassoon, a British businessman and hairstylist, was born on 17 January 1928 and passed away on 9 May 2012.[1]
Last updated 2026-10-04 from the source article.
Life and work
His mother placed him and his brother in a Jewish orphanage for seven years due to poverty.[3] At 17, he became the youngest member of the 43 Group, which broke up fascist meetings in East London.[4] He opened his first salon in London in 1954, and singer-actress Georgia Brown claimed to be his first customer.[5] He began his "Vidal Sassoon" line of hair-care products in 1973.[6]
Sassoon's parents were Jewish; he was born in Hammersmith, West London, and at age three his father left the family.[7][8] At age 20, in 1948, he participated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, fighting against the Egyptian Army in the Negev.[9][10] Sassoon described his design philosophy as wanting "to eliminate the superfluous and get down to the basic angles of cut and shape."[11] During the early 1980s, Sassoon disposed of his business holdings and started providing financial support to Israeli think tanks.[12][13]
What the cited sources add
A 2012 news report states that Sassoon's creative cuts "fit right in with the fledgling women's liberation movement"[14] The same source quotes John Paul DeJoria calling Sassoon "the most famous hairstylist in the history of the world"[14] An A.V. Club article reports that Sassoon joined an underground Jewish group that broke up fascist meetings in post-WWII London.[15] The Phoenix Art Museum account mentions that a fashion video features Gernreich, Moffitt, and hair stylist Vidal Sassoon.[16]
References
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Helen Mirren with a chin length bob, Hairfinder (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, Richard. Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press (2000) p. 313; "Liberator of ladies' hair Vidal Sassoon dies at 84", KSBW News, May 9, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Iley, "Vidal Sassoon interview", The Telegraph, 16 May 2011; Weber, "Vidal Sassoon, Hairdresser and Trendsetter, Dies at 84", The New York Times, 9 May 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Vidal Sassoon: Anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser", The Telegraph, 14 April 2008; The Archive Hour, BBC Radio 4, first broadcast 19 April 2008.; "Vidal Sassoon: Anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser", The Telegraph, 14 April 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mr Teasy-Weasy", BBC, November 2008; "British-born celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon dies" BBC 9 May 2012; Barron, "Georgia Brown, An Actress, 57; Was in 'Oliver!'", The New York Times, 6 July 1992 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lewine, "New Yorkers & Co.: Name That Goop And Make It Personal", The New York Times, 12 April 1998; Hirschberg, "The Way We Live Now: 7-21-02: Questions For Michael Caine; International Man of Mystery", The New York Times, 21 July 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Telegraph obituary", The Daily Telegraph, 10 May 2012; Sassoon, Vidal. Vidal: The Autobiography, Macmillan (2010) e-book; "Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture", ABC-CLIO, 31 December 2011, p. 582; "Vidal Sassoon fought in Israel's War of Independence", 16 May 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sassoon, Vidal. Vidal: The Autobiography, Macmillan (2010) e-book; Sassoon, Vidal. Vidal: The Autobiography, Macmillan (2010) e-book (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Archive Hour, BBC Radio 4, first broadcast 19 April 2008.; Gross, "Fresh Hair on Fresh Air", NPR Fresh Air, 10 February 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Israel, 1948: Vidal Sassoon in Combat (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eby, "R.I.P. Vidal Sassoon", The A.V. Club, 9 May 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "New faces on Sgt Pepper album cover for artist Peter Blake's 80th birthday", The Guardian, 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vidal Sassoon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Liberator of ladies' hair Vidal Sassoon dies at 84", KSBW News, May 9, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Liberator of ladies' hair Vidal Sassoon dies at 84", KSBW News, May 9, 2012. facts only, no text reused. ksbw.com
- Eby, "R.I.P. Vidal Sassoon", The A.V. Club, 9 May 2012. facts only, no text reused. avclub.com
- "Fearless Fashion: Rudi Gernreich", Phoenix Art Museum. facts only, no text reused. phxart.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Vidal Sassoon (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Vidal Sassoon (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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