British Hair Legend Sam McKnight Stands Up for Beauty Teams: “We need a new deal.”
Fat Mascara
Fat Mascara LLC
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
British hairdresser Sam McKnight MBE expands on his bombshell op-ed for Business of Fashion, “Hair and Makeup Artists Need a New Deal.” McKnight (with over 200 British Vogue covers to his name) pulls back the curtain on the business of beauty editorial and explains why artists often don’t get the credit, payment, or even protection that they’re owed. McKnight shares advice for all creatives from how to value yourself first to what a good agent looks like. He also opens up about working with icons like Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, Lady Gaga, and Princess Diana.
More from Fat Mascara
Instagram: @fatmascara @jessicamatlin
Shop the products mentioned on Fat Mascara: https://shopmy.us/shop/fatmascara
Private Facebook Group: Fat Mascara Raising a Wand
Submit a Raise a Wand product recommendation, guest suggestion, or just say hello: info@fatmascara.com
Production for this Podcast Provided by Redd Rock Music
IG: @reddrockmusic
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, we have a big one today. We've got Sam McKnight. Wow, Sam McKnight, if you don't know who he is. He's an MBE. Yes, that's right. An MBE. That is like a major, major station in the world of Great Britain. It's an order of the British |
| 0:22.4 | Empire. They don't give that to just anyone. But he was also the hairstylist for over 200 |
| 0:28.2 | British Vogue covers, did Princess Diana's hair, Lady Gaga's hair, Kate Moss's hair, |
| 0:34.3 | has his own hair care line. Sam McKnight is brilliant. But he also just recently wrote |
| 0:40.0 | an op-ed for the business of fashion that caught my eye and many people in the beauty community's |
| 0:45.3 | eye. It's called Hair and Makeup Artists deserve a New Deal. And he was very clear to let me know |
| 0:50.1 | that hair and makeup artists deserve a new deal also encompasses everyone who works in the hair |
| 0:55.7 | and beauty world. So yes, that includes nail artists and everyone else who works on set, |
| 0:59.8 | your brow tax everyone. So what does this new deal mean? He explains, but basically, |
| 1:06.0 | they're not getting paid properly. They're not getting credited properly. And if you're |
| 1:10.1 | a creative listening to this, you don't need to be a hair person or a makeup person or a properly. And if you're a creative listening to this, |
| 1:11.4 | you don't need to be a hair person or a makeup person or a nail person. If you are creative, |
| 1:15.8 | listen to this episode. It really is inspiring and helps remind you know your worth. I love this |
| 1:22.4 | episode, Sam. I love this interview Sam. And I really hope that everyone here enjoys it because I found it super inspiring. |
| 1:36.8 | Hi, Sam. |
| 1:38.3 | Hi. |
| 1:39.2 | It's good to see you in your studio. |
| 1:42.0 | All right, so I was dying to talk to you after I read the piece that you |
| 1:47.8 | wrote for business of fashion, business of beauty. You wrote hair and makeup artists deserve a new |
| 1:53.5 | deal. And it was honestly one of the most interesting pieces I've read in a while. It's certainly |
| 1:57.6 | one of the most topical. I'm going to summarize it. |
| 2:06.5 | Basically, hair and makeup artists, and I'm going to include nail text. Well, I actually wrote the beauty teams, but I think BOF edited it into a headline which said hair and makeup, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Fat Mascara LLC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Fat Mascara LLC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.