“I was a real hairdressing geek – every
week I used to get the ‘Hairdresser’s Journal’
and read it cover to cover so I knew exactly
what was going on in the industry. I knew
who the best hairdressers were and who the
celebrity hairdressers who were more ‘famous
for being famous’ were. I had made my mind
up that Trevor Sorbie was the best hairdresser
in the industry, so when I read that there
was an assistant’s position available in the
London salon, I rang the number and asked
for an interview.
“When I hadn’t heard the next day, I rang
the salon again and spoke to a woman named
Sally Brookes (the current ‘Hairdresser of
the Year’), and she told me to go in for an
interview on the Monday. I then listened to
the answerphone and Kevin Sweeney, the
salon manager, had offered me an interview
on the Wednesday but I just thought sod it,
I’ll go on the Monday anyway. When my
mum came home, I told her that I had a
job interview in London, but I’d never left
Plymouth before, so she came with me on
the train. I remember her saying to me ‘what
are you going to do if you get the job?’ and
me replying, ‘I’m not going to get the job’.
In my mind I just thought there are going to
be so many people applying, it’s not going to
happen – I thought I might get to see Trevor
Sorbie working, I get to go to the salon, it
will just be an amazing experience.”
Damian was interviewed by Sally Brookes
and Kevin Sweeney. Because Damian’s
dad was a priest, the answerphone message
said, ‘St Peter’s Vicarage’, something Kevin
had picked up on being a Scottish Catholic
himself. He spoke to Damian about religion
while Sally quizzed him on his skills. At the
end of the interview, they offered Damian
the job – he was to start the following week.
“I had originally told Bernard that I was
sick, so I had to go back and explain that
I wasn’t sick I had gone for an interview in
London! He was happy for me and thanked
me for my honesty. He was always my go-
to in my professional life as well as certain
aspects of my private life, so it was really sad
leaving him, but we kept in contact.”
The next chapter
Why take an assistant position after
qualifying as a hairdresser? “I knew I wasn’t
going to be good enough. The standard that
I had learnt at college was so low, NVQ is
across the board standard, anyone who works
in a salon can achieve an NVQ. The standard
when you work for someone like Trevor
Sorbie is extreme. You have to work 7 days
a week to qualify. Every 3 months you are
tested, if you fail once you can re-present,
but if you fail twice, you’re out the door. It
would either be Pauline McLaughlin, the Art
Director, or Trevor himself who would look
at your work. You’d have to present to the
whole salon too, it was scary.”
Damian left Trevor Sorbie after 2 years and
moved with Pauline when she opened her
own salon, MacGregor McLaughlin. “The
92
salon was on the Kings Road by what used
to be SEX (Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne
Westwood’s shop selling edgy rock ‘n’ roll
fashion). It was a very cool salon and the
clientele was cool. Trevor Sorbie's was cool,
but the clientele at MacGregor McLaughlin's
was cooler. It was the rebels - you had the
likes of Noel and Liam Gallagher, Robbie
Williams after Take That, a lot of actors and
comedians - all rebels.
“It was a really creative salon. At Trevor
Sorbie's it was very regiment, everything
was done the Trevor way, but
at MacGregor McLaughlin's
everyone was self-employed.
There are lots of hairdressers
that are creative but don't have
solid foundations, but when
you meet people that have
had really great training and
then become creative you get
something really special. That's
what MacGregor McLaughlin
was, it was a very special salon.
Pauline remains my hairdressing
inspiration after all these years,
I still speak to her on a weekly
basis.”
Damian stayed with Pauline
for 3 years before leaving
London, citing that the lifestyle was
too much. “I was working and partying
constantly. When you work at those kinds of
salons you have to attend parties to keep up
your appearance. I knew that if I carried on
for much longer, it would kill me.”
philosophy on hairdressing, it’s the idea of
respecting those that worked before you,
that’s really important to me. We’re changing
the colours and adding a lot of wood, it’s all
about craftsmanship.”
After working in various salons around the
world, Damian must find Jersey quite odd?
“It takes a little longer for fashion to hit in
Jersey but when it does it really explodes,
it's like the balayage, everywhere you looked
last year girls had the same hairstyle. I think
that's the problem with Jersey, there's kind
of like this uniform, it's very
hard for people to move out
of their comfort zones. I have
a core group of clients that
allow me to do whatever I
want to their hair, they are
very adventurous and don't
mind being different. A lot
of those people have become
friends because of the way I
am, I’m a bit different too.
I couldn't imagine being in
a salon and doing balayage
one after the other and
GHD curls, that to me isn't
hairdressing, that's what
you see on YouTube. You
obviously get clients who
don't want to change and it's important as a
hairdresser to respect that.”
Damian wants everybody to feel welcome
in his salon and that’s reflected in the prices.
“We're not as expensive as other salons, we
keep our prices down because we just want
everybody to have a really great haircut. I
see people that have fairly normal jobs and
people that are billionaires, I have a great mix
of clients.
“I approach every client as a new client,
it doesn't matter how long they've been
coming to me. The consultation at the start is
very important to find out what they didn't
like with their last haircut - even if you gave
it to them.
“The mirrors aren’t important, the chairs
aren't important, I could cut hair sitting on
a stool - as long as I have my scissors and my
comb, I can do that haircut, the thing that
is important is the clients. It's about value
for money, good haircuts and understanding
their needs. A lot of hairdressers are taught to
cut hair in a particular way, so the next thing
I want to do is to start running training from
the salon, hairdressers can come in and learn.
When you've been taught the knowledge
and you've had the experience, I think it's
very important to share that, I’m not quite
at the end of my career but in 10 years I'm
going to be, and I want to share the craft of
hairdressing.”
I’ve kept Damian away from the salon for
almost an hour, so I let him leave and get
back to his pride and joy.
"I was
working
and partying
constantly. I
knew that if I
carried on for
much longer,
it would kill
me.”
Leaving London
After MacGregor McLaughlin, Damian
moved to Swindon to take a position with
Toni and Guy. From here, he travelled the
world improving various salons, from the
UK all the way to Canada and New York.
(When Damian took over the salon in Bath
it was doing around 50k a month, within 6
months the turnover had more than doubled
to 120k a month.) Damian then moved to
Jersey and opened his own salon.
“During the summer of 2017, my wife
and I purchased our own salon, Blunt
Hairdressing, before splitting 4 months later.
My wife funded the business and I think she
almost wanted it more than I did - she’s in
finance so I think the idea of owning her
own business appealed to her. Don’t get me
wrong, I’m very grateful to her and happy I
have the business.
“Initially, going from being married,
having a home and a fairly easy life, to going
from living with friends was really difficult,
having said that, business is great now.
There’s another hairdresser who works with
me, and a few others who are interested in
joining, so we are expanding.”
At the time of speaking to Damian, he
was working 20 hours a day on the salon
refit. “I’m doing a lot of it myself as I want
the salon to represent me and everything I
stand for. The salon look is in line with my
Blunt Hairdressing is located on Colomberie
Parade. You can book an appointment by
contacting Damian on 01534 617872