Trevor Sorbie

Trevor Sorbie launched his flagship salon in London’s Covent Garden in 1979. Since then, he has launched a further four salons and Academies in London and Shanghai. His other achievements include a successful product range, many TV appearances, founding a charity, numerous industry awards, and being the first hairdresser to receive an M.B.E. from Her Majesty the Queen!

Where did it all start? Rewind 50 years and…

…you’ll meet a fifteen-year-old boy from Paisley, Scotland, with an incredible journey ahead of him. Trevor had just quit school with no qualifications and was recruited into the family business – a two-seat barber shop in Ilford, Essex, run by his father. Within three months, Trevor was cutting hair. After five years, Trevor joined a local hairdressing school, and it was during this time that he was introduced to Vidal Sassoon, a legend of the hairdressing world – the catalyst that changed his life forever.

By 1972, as a stylist for Vidal Sassoon, Trevor had become a household name, and went on to work in other well-known salons such as Toni & Guy and John Frieda in the UK and abroad. He created his own iconic looks (such as the Wedge, the Scrunch and the Chop), styled hair for major celebrities and mesmerised other hairdressers with his inspiring hair shows.

In 1986, seven years after launching the Covent Garden salon, Trevor launched his product range. Today, it’s sold worldwide. His products have always been designed to be highly effective and simple to use, with an emphasis on quality and giving hair the deep care it needs. As Trevor always says, “When you use the best ingredients, you get the best results.”

Trevor has won countless awards including the BHA British Hairdresser of the Year – the most prestigious accolade in the industry – four times. And in 2004, he was awarded an M.B.E. at Buckingham Palace for his services to hairdressing.

Trevor has always mentored his team, so they too achieve their personal best. Indeed, several of the best known industry names of today have Trevor to thank for developing their talents while working for him – Vivienne McKinder, Antoinette Beenders, Eugene Souleiman, Jamie and Sally Brookes and Angelo Seminara.

Trevor still firmly believes in his core philosophies of “real hair, for real people” and “taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary”. His top priorities remain maintaining the rigorous training and exacting standards of his team, inspiring other hairdressers to achieve their best, as well as creating wearable styles for his clients and giving them the products they need to keep their hair looking and feeling at its best.

Today, Trevor continues to dedicate boundless energy to all aspects of his business from training to products, and can be still be seen in his salons on a daily basis. His other passion is My New Hair – the wig personalisation charity for cancer patients he founded in 2006. Trevor came up with the idea following his sister-in-law’s struggle with hair loss after cancer treatment, and is dedicated to training other hairdressers on how to customise wigs in order to make this service widely available to everyone.

See the work in action: trevorsorbie.com