Trevor Sorbie
Trevor Sorbie is a name synonymous with pioneering hairdressing! He has won the coveted British Hairdresser of the Year title an unrivalled four times and created such famous styles as the wedge and scrunch. Having worked with Vidal Sassoon himself, he in turn has trained some of today's most skilled stylists, including session stylist Eugene Souleiman and fellow British Hairdresser of the Year winner Angelo Seminara.
Trevor's professional standards are second to none. His four salons located in Brighton, Manchester and London's Covent Garden and Hampstead, attract the very best hairdressers in the world. They have developed a reputation for being industry leaders, all undergoing a rigorous training programme, overseen by Trevor himself.
Trevor was born in 1949 in Paisley, Scotland to a family of barbers. After dropping out of school at 15 with no qualifications Trevor began working with his father before taking a six-month course at the Richard Henry School of Hairdressing. In 1972, shortly after graduating, he got a job at Vidal Sassoon in London where he pioneered the new geometric look sported by style icons such as Mary Quant and Mia Farrow. Vidal Sassoon quickly made Trevor his Artistic Director, styling the likes of Rex Harrison and Paul McCartney.
Trevor cites Vidal as his hero, saying, "his ideas were revolutionary and he spoke about hair with such passion and excitement, I was totally inspired." While Vidal acknowledges Trevor's career as "brilliant" thanks to his combination of "original thinking with superb technical ability." Recognition of Trevor's achievements span the hairdressing world with Toni & Guy supremo Anthony Mascolo referring to Trevor as "one of the best hairdressers ever...both directionally and creatively."
...one of the best hairdressers ever...both directionally and creatively Anthony Mascolo, Toni & Guy
Despite his achievements, Trevor has always remained candid and down-to-earth. Trevor firmly believes in what he describes as "real hair, for real people". His thinking behind this philosophy is that although his artistic work is an all-consuming passion, he also wants to create wonderfully wearable styles for his clients that make them feel and look great.
This has never been truer with the charity "My New Hair". Inspired by his own experience of helping a family member during cancer treatment, Trevor launched the charity in June 2006 and now dedicates much of his time offering advice and a wig customizations to clients suffering medical hair loss. He also organises seminars to train other hairdressers to also offer this unique service. To date Trevor has trained over 200 hairdressers across the country and works closely with many NHS hospitals and hospices.
In April 2009 My New Hair inspired a new project from The North England Cancer Network to review and improve wig services. This has been heralded nationally as a ground breaking step to raise the bar for wig provision and wig services. A 'toolkit' featuring My New Hair has been provided to all NHS networks across the country for guidance.
In October 2009, Trevor was invited to Number 10 Downing Street to celebrate his work with My New Hair and announce the provision of Department of Health funding to support the My New Hair team in extending and expanding the programme to help cancer survivors, hairdressers and NHS staff work together during hair re-growth following treatment.
In 2004 Trevor was awarded an M.B.E from the Queen to reward his dedication and services to hairdressing.
