- Playing
- Vidal Sassoon: Inspired by Architecture
- From
- Sarah Lilley
In this evergreen single-voice portrait, renowned hair designer Vidal Sassoon discusses one of his greatest artistic inspirations with charm and intimacy.
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Broadcast History
Aired July 31, 2009, on PRI's Studio 360.
Transcript
VIDAL SASSOON:
I don't get blown away by the movie stars because I've seen them all with their hair down, but a great architect -- I'll go out of my way to sit and find out what's on their mind, what they're doing and why.
From the very beginning, I wanted to change things. I left school at 14 and was a shampoo boy. But as I got into hair, i began to love it so much that I thought: why not use architectural shapes? I was trying to direct my scissors. That's hard, you know! [laughs] I really had to train myself in that way of working. By 1954, I knew I was cutting geometric shapes, and it felt good. It really did feel good, because… they worked!
It was all inspired by Bauhaus. Great architecture was clearly the Mies, Corbusier, Breuer, you know, Sullivan -- there's just so many of them. But, it's what they did -- they created shapes that fascinated people, that you had to...
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Timing and Cues
3:01 in length, with music tail of 30 seconds -- for fadeout/outro by individual stations.
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Few people have led such an unexpected life as Vidal Sasson. To refer to him simply as a "hairdresser" kind of misses the point. After growing up in a London orphanage in the 1930's, Sassoon battled fascists in the British streets as a member of the post-WWII organization the 43 Group. Still, it was the haircuts he created in the 1960's that made him revolutionary on the world stage. Sassoon dispensed with the severely shelacqued updo's of the past. Instead, he created the elegant, front-sloping bob popularized by actress Nancy Kwan. He seduced us with the pixied crop of Mia Farrow in "Rosemary's Baby", and the geometric 5-Point cut favored by '60s trendsetter Mary Quant. But all that fashion and Hollywood aside, Sassoon told us it's another world that has really captured his imagination since he was a boy.
OUTRO:Of course, the other great thing that architecture can do for you is give you a home. After Hurricane Katrina wiped out entire neighborhoods, Vidal Sassoon founded the group "Hairdressers Unlocking Hope". Since 2007, hairdressers across the country have donated almost 2 million dollars. They've also flown down and actually donned toolbelts -- it's true -- building over 21 houses to date for homeless New Orleans families. To find out more, go to behindthechairexchange.com/unlockinghope. Sarah Lilley produced this story.
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Lifeforms | Sandoz | Digital Lifeforms. | Touch | 1997 | 00:00 |
| Summer Plays Out | Plone | For Beginner Piano. | Matador | 1999 | 00:00 |
| Ellis Island | Meredith Monk - performed by Double Edge | U.S. Choice. | CRI | 1992 | 00:00 |
| Bibi Plone | Plone | For Beginner Piano. | Matador | 1997 | 00:00 |
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Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs
Posted on July 20, 2011 at 09:01 PM | Permalink
I've loved Vidal Sassoon for years
I remember going to Vidal Sassoon's salon in Chicago for a $5 haircut. We served as models for students. I felt so elegant when I left. He really is a master stylist.