Legendary Hairstylist Vidal Sassoon Dies At Age 84

The famous fashion hairstylist Vidal Sassoon, known for his products and salons of the same name, was found dead in his home today at the age of 84 of an unspecified illness. Sassoon began working in the industry at the age of 14 as a “shampoo boy,” fell in love with the work and simply never left.

According to a Times profile on the legend in 1999, he opened his first salon in London in 1954. “I gave myself five years. If I couldn’t change anything, I was out of there,” said Sassoon. When I first came into hair, women were coming in and you’d place a hat on their hair and you’d dress their hair around it. We learned to put discipline in the haircuts by using actual geometry, actual architectural shapes and bone structure. The cut had to be perfect and layered beautifully, so that when a woman shook it, it just fell back in.”

Thus, the famous “wedge” haircut was invented. He eventually opened a New York salon and debuted a hair care product line, becoming one of the first hair dressers to have his name on a major line of products. Last year, a documentary on his life was released, called Vidal Sassoon: The Movie which documented his rise in London during the 1960’s and the invention of the aforementioned “wedge” cut, as well as bringing architecture to hair for the first time.

[Images via Getty & Imdb.com]