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Desert Island Discs

Trevor Sorbie, hairdresser

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2019

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Trevor Sorbie is known as an innovative hairdresser and is the founder of the charity, MyNewHair. Born into a family of hairdressers – both his father and grandfather were barbers – he spent the first decade of his life in Scotland before the family relocated to Essex. His first ambition was to become an artist, but when he left school aged 15 with no qualifications after being bullied, his father suggested that he could help out at his barbershop. Within three months, Trevor was cutting hair and found that he loved it. Five years down the line, however, he decided to learn about cutting women’s hair and following his training, his first job was at a Vidal Sassoon salon. He would later go on to work at both John Frieda and Toni & Guy, before launching his own salon with his business partner in 1979. He invented several iconic haircuts of the era, including the Wedge and the Chop, and he came up with the technique of scrunch drying. His innovative styles won him the British Hairdresser of the Year award four times. In 2006, he set up his charity MyNewHair to teach hairdressers how to cut and style wigs after his sister-in-law lost her hair in the course of her cancer treatment. Since then, he has trained nearly a thousand hairdressers. He was the first hairdresser to be awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2004. BOOK CHOICE: All of Jeremy Clarkson’s books LUXURY: A bottle of wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: My Sweet Lord by George Harrison Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:05.3

I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Discs Podcast.

0:08.8

Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take

0:13.2

with them if they were cast away to a desert island.

0:16.7

For right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.

0:20.8

I hope you enjoy listening.

0:30.0

Music Radio

0:43.1

My cast away today is Trevor Sorby.

0:45.4

There aren't many hairdressers who become household names, but along with his mentor, Vidal

0:49.9

Sasoon, he's one of the few.

0:52.2

Even those of us whose interaction with the world of hair only goes as far as a quick

0:55.9

shampoo a couple of times a week may in some small way have felt his impact.

1:00.6

After all, there's every chance his name is on the side of the bottle.

1:04.2

A winner of the British hairdresser of the year title Four Times in the beauty industry

1:08.6

he's known as an innovator.

1:10.7

He invented the wedge and pioneered scrunched drying.

1:14.2

He revolutionised the way hair was cut with a freehand style that introduced the concept

1:18.6

of texturising.

1:19.6

In 2006, he set up the charity My New Hair, providing a free wig styling service for

1:25.8

people who have lost their own hair due to illness.

1:28.6

He called it psychological medicine, which isn't all that different to his regular appointments

1:32.9

with clients.

...

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