Elizabeth originally trained as an art teacher, and her first hairdressing apprenticeship was in her native Australia. That basic training wasn’t enough for her though, she wanted something more. Seeing a Sassoon haircut in a Sydney newspaper made her suddenly realise, “Oh my God – that’s what you can do with hair!”.
In 1979 she began her Sassoon training. She then worked in Hong Kong, travelled extensively all over Asia and ended up as Art Director of the Los Angeles school in the early 1980s. After a stint as Creative Director in San Francisco, and plenty of editorial work for international publications and TV commercials, Elizabeth now heads up the West Coast division of | Sassoon as Regional Creative Director. As she puts it, “It’s a great job, I get to work with the best people in the industry, I get to help creative directors develop their staff – it’s about teaching and mentoring”.
As she sees it “Sassoon is all about energy, dedication, passion – it’s a particular state of mind and having the ability to openly exchange and develop ideas”.
For Elizabeth the beauty of a haircut comes from its transience – “Architecture is constant, buildings could be there until the end of time, but a haircut is a moving art form that is only there for a fleeting moment. That’s always fascinated me.” |
