THIS MONTH I AM CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF HAIR CUTTING

I fell into haircutting purely by circumstance.   I had just left high school and a friend of my father asked if I was interested in cutting hair at a very exclusive men’s barber shop t…hat also cut women’s hair.  Hairdressing in 1964 in this country was mainly sets, perms, colours and basic haircuts, whereas in the continent and England it was the beginning of the wash & wear cuts. Charles and Victor, whom I worked for in Canberra were my mentors in French cutting.  After three to four weeks of watching the two brothers and with practice on my friends, I picked up the skills and was cutting full time.  It was the period of the Mia Farrow short haircut and layered bobs. Fortunately for me tech college did not exist in Canberra at that stage, otherwise I would have ended up being more of an all-round hairdresser doing lots of colours. So, the skills of barbering and hair cutting have bought me to where I am today. My clientele at that time were diplomats, politicians, fashion models, actors and media types. It was at that time I cut George Lazanby’s hair, a past James Bond.  So I began with an interesting clientele. In the late sixties I moved to Sydney and worked with another great French cutter, Denise of Paris.  It was here in Sydney that I also met John Sahag with whom I would have frequent discussions on French cutting techniques.  John was a master haircutter who became internationally famous. In the early seventies I moved to Melbourne and worked for Edward Beale who at that time, was the Vidal Sassoon of Australia. In 1972 I opened Just Hair in partnership with a person that was not a hairdresser, big mistake, but it was at this time that I cut the hair of the Rolling Stones and Santana when they were touring Australia. I opened my first solo salon in 1974 “Ecru hair” in Melbourne.  It was here that I started to get a lot of media coverage through magazines, newspapers and doing haircuts for film, theatre and TV.  Rocky Horror, Tommy, Mad Max, etc, etc. In 1985 I moved to Sydney and opened Voi Haircuts and I am still operating as the only wash & wear hair cutter.  I never use a brush, no colours, no perms, no products.  My philosophy and technique is that I am 100% pure in this industry that is full of poisons and toxic chemicals that are harmful to the operator, clients and environment.  I even water down shampoo because it is full of chemicals. It’s a profession that challenges all your skills. To be a hairdresser is not just about hair.  You are more than a craftsman, you are many professions in one and become multi skilled in human life. You are dealing in life and death and in between.  The highs and lows, lust and breakups, love and hate, wins and losses, happiness and sadness, sane and insane, rich and poor. It’s a profession that not only has connected me with some world famous identities but it is a trade that interacts with, music, architecture, history, culture, art, politics, fashion and nature etc.  My client base is still as diverse as it has always been and now with my cutting classes I’m able to pass on my craft. This has been a fulfilling profession like no other profession, which is rich in human behaviour. In my next life I want to come back as a haircutter.