explains exactly how the main basic and most important haircuts are done step by step extensive use of photographs

Vidal Sassoon's extraordinary life has taken him from an impoverished East End childhood to global fame. The father of modern hairdressing, his slick sharp cutting took the fashion world by storm and reinvented the hairdressers' art. Before Vidal Sassoon, a trip to the hairdressers meant a shampoo and set or a stiffly lacquered up-do that would last a week - or more. After Vidal Sassoon, hair was sleek, smooth and very, very stylish. Along with his lifelong friend and partner in style, Mary Quant, who he first met in 1957 and who to this day sports a Sassoon-style geometric bob, he styled the 1960s. As memorable as the mini - be it car or skirt - he is one of the few people who can genuinely be described as iconic. His memoirs are as rich in anecdote as one might hope and full of surprising and often moving stories of his early life - his time at the Spanish & Portuguese Jewish Orphanage in Maida Vale, fighting Fascists in London's East End and fighting in the army of the fledgling state of Israel in the late Forties. And then there's the extraordinary career, during which he cut the hair of everyone who was anyone, launched salons all over the world, founded the hairdressing school that still bears his name and became a global brand, with Vidal Sassoon products on all our bathroom shelves.

A captivating look at the career of social and style revolutionary Vidal Sassoon. A visionary hairstylist who became a household name, Vidal Sassoon was an instrument of change during the cultural shifts of the 1960s. Inspired by Bauhaus architecture, Sassoon’s career took off with the Nancy Kwan bob in 1963, followed by the boyish five-point haircut that blurred class and sexual distinctions in the unisex era. These low-maintenance styles signaled liberation from the constraints of the past and led to a mix of social strata in his Bond Street salon as both ladies and shopgirls had their hair trimmed side by side. His singular and iconic haircuts for tastemakers such as Grace Coddington and Mia Farrow charted a new course for ideals of feminine beauty. Combining fashion photography, candid snapshots, and recollections by Sassoon and members of his artistic circle, such as David Bailey, Terence Donovan, and Mary Quant, this book is a fascinating look at one man’s driven efforts to transform style and the radical changes wrought by progressive fashion.

A celebration of the 50-year career of one of the most innovative fashionmakers of the 20th century--the internationally known hairdresser and style guru Sassoon. Published to accompany an exhibition at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, this stunning survey acknowledges the contributions Sassoon has made for the past half century. 175 illustrations, 100 in color.