Vidal Sassoon, hair stylist and fashion world pioneer who created a natural look in the 1960s and built a multimillion-dollar business on his name, died on Wednesday after a long battle with leukemia. He was 84. Sassoon died at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by loved ones and his wife of 20 years, Ronnie, his family said in a statement. “He will be greatly missed,” they said. The British stylist’s scissors spelled the end of the 1950s-era beehive and the bouffant – untouchable hairstyles that owed their existence to lacquer and hair pins – and brought him international fame and fortune. Sassoon was dubbed a pioneer for coming up with so-called wash and wear looks – liberating many women from weekly salon trips to have their hair done. In 1950 he won his first hairdressing competition, and four years later at age 26, opened his first shop in fashionable Bond Street in London’s West End. He gained fame for styling models for fashion designer Mary Quant as well as Mia Farrow in 1967 film, ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. His family said a memorial service would be planned for a later date. Sassoon is survived by his wife, three children and grandchildren.
