TAKING THE NICKY

Salon Smart ’16 finished on an incredible high with tales from the A-list and Buckingham Palace – from hairdressing royalty, Mr Nicky Clarke, OBE.

In a frank discussion with Creative HEAD editor Amanda Nottage, Nicky recalled starting at the iconic Leonard’s in the early ‘70s, where he assisted John Frieda, before leaving with John to help him build up his business, working on Vogue shoots when he was just 18 years old.

He looked back on his session styling pedigree, before amusing spellbound guests with the story of his Mount Street salon opening, where 750 guests and the paparazzi showed up… as did the Duchess of York, who asked, “Nicholas, where is the ribbon for me to cut?” (They had to make do with a Christmas tree decoration and her bodyguard’s Swiss Army knife!)

His astonishingly successful product line, THAT £500 haircut price tag, his TV career on shows such as The Jump and Come Dine With Me (but never I’m a Celebrity…, even though they’ve asked him seven times) – it was a scintillating session with a proper celebrity hairdresser, in both senses of the word… and a jolly lovely, talented man, to boot! And those are probably Versace boots, darling…