What do you consider to be 'in fashion' right now in hairdressing?
“Whatever looks good!”
Wow - your education seminars are very extensive and current for desires of today’s generation of hairdressers. With your classes in Australia, are they similar to those in London? From what you have seen at Hair Expo, would there be of benefits of Australian hairdressers to travel to London for education these days?
“The seminars are exactly the same as we do in London. Having said that I’d always recommend that people travel for the experience and inspiration that it offers. We’re always happy to see Australian hairdressers – the standard of training and skills that you have in Australia is amongst the highest in the world. We find that Australian hairdressers have a great senses of passion and forward-thinking – perhaps because you’re such a distance from the rest of the world and there’s that feeling that you don't want to get left behind.”
When you prepare for events such as Hair Expo, how many people within the team come with you, and what are their roles?
“My wife, Pat, travels with me and she is our make-up director. We put the concept for the shows together between us, and for this trip we’ve brought over an additional team of four - our art director, our education director who’s here to oversee hair, a stylist to look after the fashion and accessories, and Zak Mascolo, our creative director from New York. We also work closely with Mike Esa on the production of the show and he oversees the technical side of the show”
 Is it very different than preparing and participating in Fashion Runways or Photo Shoot Sessions?
“Doing a photo shoot, a fashion show and a hair show are three completely different things. On a shoot, you begin with the creative concept and then work with two or three models during the day to develop a story. On a fashion show, you’re working with the designer and generally develop one look which is applied to all models. On a hair show, you work with 25 to 30 models and almost all of them have a different look. Everything goes into another dimension so that you need to take into account the fashion, the timing and the production. We aim to educate and inspire as well as creating amazing entertainment”.
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.............Anthony and Pat.............
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Your name is so well known, would you have any suggestions for the new generation of hairdressers on how to become as successful as you are?
One of the best ways to learn is from other successful people – not just hairdressers – but people at the top of their profession like Michael Schumacker. Learn what makes them tick and see if you identify with their ideas – it’ll help to reassure you that what you’re thinking and doing is right.
At the end of the day, all that counts is the quality of your work and the quality of your service.
What gives you the most enjoyment from this business?. (The hands on experience of hairdressing, training and educating others.....)
Right now I’m doing something that gives me more pleasure than anything else I’ve done in this business – cutting wigs for women suffering hair loss as a result of chemotherapy or alopaecia. I have a lot of experience in cutting wigs and any hairdresser can learn to provide this invaluable service to clients. Coping with illness is very traumatic and to have the added stress of hair loss can be devastating. Hairdressers are very involved with their client’s image and providing this service is an additional way to enrich a client’s life during this sensitive time. Some of the UK’s top hairdressers - Andrew Collinge, Alan Edwards, Darren Gilbert of Umberto Giannini, Guy Kremer, Charlie Miller Andrew Mulvenna and Charles Worthington - have all agreed to offer clients advice on wig purchases and then customise their look. And because cutting wigs is a specialist skill, I’ll be offering seminars through L’Oreal to hairdressers interested in working with wigs. I’ve also dedicated an entire area of my website to tips for both  clients and hair professionals on selecting, customising and caring for wigs.
How long have you been in the industry now?
I’ve been working in hairdressing for some forty years now. I started in my father’s two chair barber shop and did five years of barbering, but I then retrained to learn women’s haircutting. At the end of my training, the principal of the school suggested that I apply to Vidal Sassoon – they took me on and after working there for a while I moved back to a more suburban salon where I was doing 30 clients a day. That’s when you learn about the business of hairdressing! At the age of 20, I moved back to Sassoon’s and within 18 months I was appointed Creative Director. I’d never wanted to be a top hairdresser, but suddenly I was working with people who taught me to stretch myself and that I could be really good at what I did. When I launched the ‘Wedge’ haircut, I was suddenly aware of the impact I could have on people and on my profession and I was inspired to constantly try and recreate that impact. In 1985 I won UK Hairdresser of the Year for the first time, and during the 80s I was attracting the top music stars of the day – Adam Ant, Siouxsie Sioux and Toyah Wilcox – we were getting great PR coverage and that was when business really took off for me.
Hairdressing has been my life – it was never just a job – but I’ve stayed small because I never wanted to build a huge company. I never set out to create a philosophy and train other people to work that way. I’ve been quite self-centred – I think you have to be to achieve this kind of success. I figured that if people wanted to see a Trevor Sorbie show, they wanted to see me, not my team – and that’s why I did my own shows, alone on stage for 20 years.
If it all stopped tomorrow, I’ll have done more, achieved more and seen more than I ever dreamed possible.
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