The lovely session stylist and entrepreneur James Brown managed to find some time in his hectic schedule to have a chat with us. Read on to find out how he began his career, aged 8, and how he became mates with supermodel Kate Moss.
How did you end up getting into hairdressing?
When I was 8, my sister used to go to a salon every Saturday and have her hair blow-dried, and then she'd come home, wash it herself, and redo it. After watching this for about a year, one day I asked why she did it. She said "Women go to the salon, that's what they do. But I don't like how they do my hair". So I said I'd do it. And she let me, so that's how I started.
That's a trusting sister, to let her eight-year-old brother loose on her hair.
She was so glamorous, I'd just sit and watch her getting ready, and watch how she did it. You learn a lot about hair from just watching, so I already knew what to do. Plus it was only a brush and a hair-dry, I wasnt doing brain surgery or anything.
Did you set out to become a celebrity hairdresser, or did you just like cutting hair?
I just liked cutting hair, absolutely.
So how do you go from being someone who just cuts hair at the local salon to working with supermodels?
It all happened by accident, really. I was working in a salon in Croydon, and had a day off. I came up to Covent Garden just to walk around the shops, and I saw a sign in a window saying 'Apprentice wanted'. I went in and got it, so I went from this old grannies' salon in Croydon to this salon where everyone's wearing Vivienne Westwood. It just inspired me and got me focused. Then the rest sort of followed on - I did a Vogue cover, and that propelled me into a world that I didn't even know existed. Until then I didn't know or care, I was quite happy in the salon. So it all happened by accident, really.
You're best friends with Kate Moss, but that's nothing to do with your work, is it?
No. She's from Croydon as well. In a small area, everybody knows everybody, and she's the same age as my younger sister, so we used to see each other around. It just came about from that, really.
How often do you see each other? She crops up in the film a lot!
We see each other most days. We live about two minutes apart, so if I'm passing, I'll pop in. If she's passing, she'll pop in. So yeah, a lot - work permitting. I'm flying all over the place, she's flying all over the place, though not as much now because of her daughter, but we see each other as much as we can, really.
You've got this great friendship, and you've now gone into business together - Kate's a partner in your new hairdressing salon. Were you worried about mixing a friendship with business?
No, I wasn't. Not with Kate. I'm just doing what I do. It wasn't like we were stretching ourselves or moving into new territory. Every project she does, I'm involved with, and vice versa. We're just involved in each others lives, like all good friends.
James Brown's Supermodel Salon follows you setting up your salon. Why did you decide that it was the right time to set up your own salon in the middle of a colossal economic downturn?
Well, I started my hair products business first, and I had this stupid idea in the middle of it all of doing a road trip from London to Scotland, stopping at every single Boots store along the way. I wanted to see the women who were buying the product, and talk to them. And in the five days that I was doing this trip, literally every other woman asked "Where's your salon?" So, by the end of it, on my way back, I decided that I needed to open a salon. People didn't relate to me being a session worker, they didn't really know what that was. But everyone can relate to having a salon, so that's how it came about.
How's the salon doing, now it's up-and-running?
It's doing really well. And I'm loving it. I absolutely love having somewhere that I can go, not working out of a bag all the time. I had a few hours off yesterday, and I was in there. It's just my environment. Being in my business office is sometimes a little alien to me, with facts and figures all over the place, so the salon is my total environment. I love it. I picked everything in there myself, down to the cups and saucers, so I feel like I'm at home.
Have any of your celebrity clients been into a salon?
Oh yeah, absolutely. This is where a problem's going to arise, because they keep just popping in for a blow dry when they're out shopping. I want the place to be a real hub, so I like it when they pop in, but I might not always have time to do their hair.
Who are your favourite celebrity clients?
Demi Moore, definitely. I'm obsessed with her. Liv Tyler as well...
How do you end up working for these big American stars? How do you pass across their radar?
I don't know, it's mad. A lot of it is about trust, and doing the job right. Gwyneth's agent is also Liv's agent, so you do one, and the agent knows you're trustworthy and can do the job, so they might use you for their other clients. It's word of mouth. 'He gets the job done'. I'm blow-drying the hair, they're the star, and you have to always remember that. They're the one who's got to go out in front of 30,000 people. I'm just there to blow-dry the hair. So you just shut up and do the job.
And lastly, if people want to have you do their hair, where should they go?
It's James Brown London, and it's at 82 Wigmore Street. Right next to Selfridges. You can pop in after you've shopped! We'll even give you a coffee!
