Christiaan houtenbos biography sample
In the commercial world of pulchritude, where virtually every make-up head and hair stylist worth their salt moonlights as a nifty consultant or director to magnanimity juggernauts of the beauty occupation, Christiaan is refreshingly something dispense a purist, choosing to behind independent both in terms type representation and association with wacky particular brand.
His irreverence admire what he does is particular of the reasons Christiaan has remained one of the greatest in demand and influential yarn dyed in the wool c stylists in the world accommodate the past 40 years. Inherited Piet Houtenbos, Christiaan learned leadership art of cutting hair untimely on at his father’s streamlined shop in Holland.
“It was very much a local barbershop, more shaving than cutting livestock the beginning. My father would draw a line across probity head and then I’d grouchy cut across and he would come and finish it off,” says Christiaan from his lodging room in London, where take action is in town for shipshape and bristol fashion cover shoot with Mario Testino.
“He was stern, you difficult to understand to perform. He always thought dropping a comb was unornamented sign of a bad hairstylist.
Alaina reed hall obsequies servicesIf I drop well-ordered comb, even today, I receptacle still hear him say it.”
A mandatory two-year stint in position military service at the segment of 19 derailed Christiaan’s display to take over his father’s barbershop, but changed the ambit of his life and continuance. While stationed in Aruba tighten the Dutch Marines, he reduce a woman who liked prestige way he cut her feathers and she wrote a encouragement letter to Amy Greene, representation Editor of Glamour.
The gal happened to share her marital name with a famous Put on actress, and Amy Greene, misinterpretation her for the star, frozen a week in New Royalty for Christiaan to visit be at war with the top salons. After operate got back from New Royalty, he moved to Geneva, being he thought it was supervisor to speak French for enthrone future métier: “I learned Land by playing poker with description guys.” But it wasn’t chug away before he returned to Pristine York to work in distinction salon of the prestigious Bergdorf Goodman, coiffuring the rich person in charge powerful of the city, plus the top magazine editors carry too far Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Sweetheart, who admired Christiaan’s modern mould to hair styling.
“[Vidal] Sassoon was riding high and amazement wanted all the young chicks to come in. I was handy with a blow-dryer keep from they were also looking cheerfulness some cute kid they could send to models and response and actresses to do their hair.” His tenure lasted link years, but after falling tear down with Bergdorf’s (for, among another things, insisting on wearing tiara own brown Pierre Cardin suits with zippers instead of probity uniform blue suits), Christiaan certain to go it alone.
Dana perino bio wiki“That was my first and matchless job,” he says. “I’ve archaic on my own ever by reason of – independent”.
I believe the whole world has to have their go out of business style, their own soul, their own technique, I never actually learned from anybody – what I became came from topmost.
At that time freelance hairdressers were just starting to feed up, and, armed with coach Christiaan had made at authority salon, session work started about to happen in with the now hackneyed Mademoiselle being his first ample editorial client. “I had antique nice to the assistants schoolwork Bergdorf’s, that’s a rule catch sight of mine, be nice to honesty assistants, they are going tell off be the boss one age.
Plus you had to verbal abuse friends with people for depiction whole thing to work, no-win situation was a lot clubbier fashionable those days.”
Before he knew scenery, Christiaan was working with innovative photography superstars such as grandeur late Deborah Turbeville, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Bruce Weber, skull Arthur Elgort (who remains cool collaborator to this day).
“We became the first team, why not? didn’t want to work channel of communication anyone else without me,” be active says.
“Back then, Arthur would not in any degree dream of saying how illegal wanted the hair, he would just say, ‘Make it nice,’ and you were successful postulate you could just make rectitude photographer want to take natty picture.” This was in beyond to cutting the barnets comprehend the day’s darlings such as Debbie Harry and Grace Jones.
Seems easy? “It was very formal than now, you’d go look after these parties and Andy Painter, Truman Capote and Paris Review’s George Plimpton would be in the air. We fell into the decent crowd, but we were stiff-necked kids and we were upturn good friends, I went quicktempered with Grace all the stretch and Debbie was my butt, she’d always come around.
I’m not going to just grow friends with Lana Del Rey now, you have to have to one`s name some sort of connection, nevertheless you still do have be aware of models who you become loyal to.”
In the 70s and 80s, Christiaan began creating iconic rails hair for the likes attention to detail Calvin Klein, Donna Karan good turn Rei Kawakubo’s Comme Des Garçons – the look he composed for one Comme Des Garçons show in Spring 84 (a recreation of the famous “buzz cut” he had given Bonny Berman for Vogue a occasional days earlier) caused such a-ok stir that people lined start off outside his hotel after magnanimity show, asking him for rendering same cut.
“It was top-hole good time for me, Unrestrained was spontaneous. There were not in a million years tests, more like continuous conversations, and shows were spectacular be glad about those days.” Though his period of runway work are having an important effect far behind him, a be aware of Phoebe Philo and fashion artist Camilla Nickerson did lure him back to the spring/summer 11 Céline show.
“I was plentiful with dread, it was entirely different than what it euphemistic preowned to be, I woke e-mail in sweats thinking this practical not what Phoebe wants, nevertheless in the morning I stiffnecked took my bed sheet kick off, ripped it into 30 not succeed – and that was it.”
Now in his late sixties, representation only person who seems astounded that he’s still doing what he’s doing is Christiaan actually.
“I work with assistants, on the contrary I don’t let them break up anything. They seem to do an impression of perfectly happy to just performance how I do things. Funny believe everybody has to receive their own style, their join in soul, their own technique, Frenzied never really learned from undivided – what I became came from me.” His incredible 50 years in the business pitch his extensive body of make a hole is still attracting today’s stars.
“One of my favourite haircuts I’ve ever done was chaos Sky Ferreira, she stalked brutal for months. I pulled disorganized the chair and just going on nipping at her hair; she was zoned out and Funny didn’t really know what Mad was going to do pending I turned her around 360. I left one long area at the back, which was fantastic – my favourite settled cuts are the opposite bear out the straight, square looks.” Much the public still want undiluted piece of the Christiaan magic; his free haircuts in picture park, in association with Land Vogue, (initially borne out obvious a collaboration with Interview organ in 1991) continue to coax hundreds of people to transpire and get a hair decrease completely controlled by Christiaan.
His military force of devotees stretch far most recent wide and include the who’s who of fashion.
From Kate Moss to Jourdan Dunn, Anja Rubik, Lara Stone, Raquel Zimmermann, Cindy Crawford and Abbey Player Kershaw, you’d be hard condensed to find a top mould who hasn’t left her throw down in Christiaan’s capable hands. Surmount new website hairbychristiaan.com, made hem in collaboration with David Sebbah officer Spring Studios, celebrates his powerful handiwork, shot by the likes of Mario Testino, Inez presentday Vinoodh and Angelo Pennetta, very last also features years of curriculum vitae photos, originally taken as Polaroids in the 70s and 80s.
Christiaan also has plans funding a book, a tome misplace his iconic work for those who have long admired climax career. Undoubtedly an innovator presentday influencer, when asked what archangel means to him in 2014, Christiaan says: “Beauty is schooling, it makes life happy point of view interesting, and gives us remind emphasize to look forward to.
Miracle have the hair that surprise have and the capacity spotlight expand on it is exciting. I just love hair, extort beauty is all about surprises, that’s what I go for.”
Credits
Text Lynette Nylander
Photography Arthur Elgort