Vidal: The Autobiography

The most famous hairdresser in the world tells his fascinating life story

Vidal Sassoon's extraordinary life has taken him from an impoverished childhood to global fame as the father of modern hairdressing, whose slick sharp cutting took the fashion world by storm. His memoir begins with surprising and often moving stories of his early life—his time at the Spanish & Portuguese Jewish orphanage in Maida Vale, warring with fascists in London's East End, and fighting in the army of the fledgling state of Israel in the late 1940s. He then discusses his extraordinary career, during which he cut the hair of everyone who was anyone—including Mary Quant, Grace Coddington, Twiggy, Rita Hayworth, and Mia Farrow; launched salons all over the world; founded the hairdressing school that still bears his name; and became a global brand. He also shares the passions that drive him—architecture and beautiful women, Israel and anti-Semitism, family ties and season tickets at Chelsea. The compelling memoir of a genuine fashion icon who reinvented the hairdressers' art.