ARTIST SPOTLIGHT .01
A CARPENTRY APPRENTICESHIP HE NEVER WANTED. A SATURDAY IN A SALON THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING. A TROPHY THAT PUT HIM IN VOGUE. ANDY SMITH OPENS OUR ARTIST SPOTLIGHT SERIES WITH THE STORY OF HOW FREEDOM IS EARNED.
Last month, our Founder promised that every month we would introduce you to one of the people inside Global Hair Collective. We begin with Andy Smith.
You may know the work: the precision, the stage presence, decades spent educating across the world. What you probably don't know is where it started. Or what it cost.
The Boy Who Was Meant for a Trade
Andy grew up on a farm in the wetlands of Lincolnshire. In his world, young men went into a trade. Nobody asked whether they loved it.
BEFORE THE TRADE.
BEFORE THE SALON.
‘NOTHING DREW ME TO CARPENTRY. IT WAS THE FIRST APPRENTICESHIP I FOUND. I HAD NO LOVE FOR IT. I DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF ME.’
The way out came on Saturdays. His girlfriend at the time was a stylist, and he started visiting her at the salon. There he met Carlos, an Italian with real presence, who told him to come and hang out. So he did, every Saturday.
‘THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE VIBE. THE PEOPLE, THE CREATIVITY. I FELT A PULL TOWARDS IT. ‘
Then came the moment that decided it. Andy fell off a roof on a carpentry job. He walked into the salon and asked for work.
‘I SAID, 'GIVE ME A JOB.' AND THAT WAS IT. I NEVER LOOKED BACK.’
The One Who Believed
Thirty years ago, a young man from a trade family choosing hairdressing was not an easy story to tell at home.
‘I GREW UP A MAN'S MAN, AND I CHOSE A JOB THAT WAS SEEN AS FEMININE. AT THE TIME, THAT WAS VERY UNUSUAL FOR A YOUNG BOY. I DIDN'T GET MUCH SUPPORT FROM MY FRIENDS OR THE MEN IN MY FAMILY.’
One person stood behind him without hesitation.
‘MY MUM WAS MY ROCK. IT WAS ME AND HER. SHE WAS EXCITED ABOUT WHAT I WAS DOING. SHE GAVE ME THE STRENGTH TO IGNORE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS SAYING AND GET ON WITH WHAT I BELIEVED IN.’
‘IT WAS ME AND HER.'
£187 a Month
His first salon was Images, a small salon in South London. The year was around 1997, and Andy was sixteen. Carlos had opened the door, but the salon belonged to his wife, Helen, and she ran the training. She started his.
I WAS AN APPRENTICE, WASHING HAIR AND LEARNING. I WASN'T EARNING MUCH, BUT I WAS INSIDE A PROPER TRAINING SYSTEM.
His first pay was £187 a month. The money was small. The foundation was not.
Two Years, Two Trophies
By the mid-2000s, Andy was artistic director of the John Carne Group in Guildford. In 2004, with colourist Harriet White, he won the L'Oréal Colour Trophy with a mullet on a model who was Miss Norway. The rules didn't allow him to enter the women's category twice. So in 2005 he entered the men's category, and won again, with a curtained look.
Twenty years later, both shapes are back on every trend board.
Vogue, March issue:
The image makers.
‘THE NEXT DAY I WAS ON GMTV WITH LORRAINE KELLY. THEY FLEW ME TO THE STATES. I HAD A FOUR-PAGE SPREAD IN VOGUE. IT WAS A MUCH BIGGER DEAL BACK THEN.’
L'Oréal Professionnel flew the team to New York for a photoshoot, and Vogue featured them in its March issue. The wins made him an ambassador for L'Oréal's H² creative programme, and other brands began to notice. Schwarzkopf and OSiS followed, and later Indola. It was his way into education and the brand side of the industry.
Master It, Then Break It
Asked about the hardest lesson he was ever given, Andy doesn't name a criticism. He names his mentors.
‘A FEW PEOPLE DRILLED IT INTO ME. IT CAME STRONGLY FROM TIM HARTLEY, FROM TYLER JOHNSTON, AND FROM OTHER GUYS I WORKED WITH BACK IN THE DAY. YOU HAVE TO MASTER YOUR CRAFT BEFORE YOU EARN THE FREEDOM TO BREAK THE RULES. I'LL ALWAYS CARRY THAT WITH ME.’
The Jump
By 2018, Andy was running a large salon in Chelsea, with his own brand contracts. The brands paid the salon. The salon paid him. Then he saw the obvious.
‘IF THE BRANDS WERE LOYAL TO ME, THEY WOULD PAY ME DIRECTLY IF I LEFT. IT WAS PARTLY A FINANCIAL DECISION. BUT MOSTLY IT WAS ABOUT BREAKING AWAY FROM THE STRESS OF RUNNING A SALON DAY TO DAY, AND HAVING THE CREATIVE FREEDOM I NEEDED.’
He went freelance. He calls it the biggest risk of his career.
The Hairdresser Today
Ask what he understands differently now than ten years ago, and he gives a few words: freedom to move.
The same words keeps returning. Freedom to move in the hair. Freedom in the way he works. And when we asked what matters most today, money, recognition or freedom, he didn't hesitate: freedom and happiness.
The first thing he bought that told him he'd made it? A house.
The Five Signature Questions
When did you realise hair could become more than just a job? Immediately. When the passion kicked in, it was never a job to me.
What does great hair mean to you? Technically controlled and beautifully worn.
What's the biggest risk you've taken in your career? Going freelance.
What's something about you that your Instagram would never tell us? I grew up on a farm, and I was meant to be a carpenter. I had no love for it.
If I could tell the next generation of hairdressers one thing, it would be… Slow down and master the details.
Quick Fire
Classic or experimental?
Experimental
Money or freedom?
Freedom
Obsessed with outside hair?
Fitness
Perfect day without hair?
Exploring the world
Most used emoji?
The one crying with laughter 😂
…And finally:
One hairdresser you'd let cut your hair?
'‘I don't have any hair.’