DENISE PATRICIA MCADAM
THIS London-based Scottish celebrity hairdresser defied the societal norms of the mid ’70s to pursue her profession.
Today, she is a renowned stylist to stars and royalty. A consummate professional, she would not namedrop despite having clients like Bo Derek, Ronan Keating, Grace Kelly, Sade, Frank Sinatra, JLS and The Saturdays.
She explains, in her heavy Scottish brogue: “To be honest, I come from a generation where you don’t talk about your clients.”
Hair, a six-part British reality series presented by Steve Jones, has McAdam and Alain Pichon judging eight amateur hairstylists on ingenuity and skills.
Explaining the genesis of her livelihood, she offers: “I was always very creative and great at art. Hairdressing many years ago was a job ‘if you were not a smart person’. These days, it is appreciated as a creative talent.”
Just as she contemplated a career as a nurse, an article on the Michaeljohn Salon in London piqued her interest. Of course, her career change didn’t initially bode well with her dad. She laughs: “He went bananas. But he realised I was very creative. So the next day he asked one of his secretaries about it. He decided if I were to do an apprenticeship, it had to be somewhere proper. In those days, you paid for it in the beginning. It was very solid training and incredible.”
She eventually applied to join the team at Michaeljohn and worked with the fashion side of the salon, which involved magazine photoshoots.
As for being paired with Pichon in Hair, she praises: “Alain is fabulous. The great thing is he grew up in a family of barbers. If you had to analyse, he would call himself a stylist, I would call myself a hairdresser.
“I am looking for potential to see how the contestants interpret what we give them. Also, I want to see that they have done their homework.”
ALAIN PICHON
THIS stylist to the stars is a fourth-generation hairdresser. His talent led to him train at a local French salon, which was associated to the Vidal Sassoon Academy.
By 23, he was an employee of the Toni & Guy salons. Soon he was promoted to artistic director and also held seminars. Five years later, he branched out on his own and worked with leading designers on fashion shows while also consulting for international companies and on films.
Of the fundamentals of the profession, he says: “Strong hair cutting and strong hair styling; if you have these two bases, the combination makes you stronger. Hair-dressing is about preparation, you must have all your tools. And you must have a good library of reference.”
Of the calibre of the contestants, he says he was impressed: “They did their homework. They learnt the basics and grew with the technique. The third challenge was freestyle. It was fantastic to see that they had no fear… It was surprising and much more than we expected.”
And it seems that audiences agree, since the show has already been renewed for a second season.
• Hair airs on BBC Lifestyle on Sunday, January 25 at 5pm.