John Frieda, celebrity hairstylist and haircare mogul, dead at 75

John Frieda, the celebrity hairstylist whose eponymous product range — its beloved Frizz Ease serum, especially — proved a commercial sensation, has died aged 75.

The British entrepreneur, who counted Madonna and Princess Diana among his clients, died “peacefully” and “surrounded by his family,” according to a statement posted to his Instagram by his London salon on Wednesday.

“His talent and passion touched so many, and his legacy will live on in every single one of us,” the statement added, describing Frieda as “a true icon of the hair industry.” His stepdaughter Agnelli Lagrange also confirmed the news on social media, where she called him “the best man to ever exist.” Neither statement specified a cause of death.

The son of a hairdresser (and the grandson of a barber), Frieda was born Alan Howard Frieda in London in 1951. He started going by the name John after joining London’s famous House of Leonard, because the salon already employed an Alan.

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From the late 1960s, as assistant to the salon’s owner Leonard Lewis, Frieda helped style hair for some of the era’s biggest names, including Mick Jagger, Twiggy and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. In 1976, then only in his mid-20s, Frieda opened his own salon in London’s West End. That year, he invented the “Purdey” — a chic take on a bowl cut — for actor Joanna Lumley, who famously wore the style in the TV spy series “The New Avengers.”

Frieda expanded his celebrity clientele in the 1980s, working with stars including Princess Diana, Madonna and Paul McCartney, as well as styling for television and fashion editorials. He opened a second location in London’s exclusive Mayfair neighborhood, but his ambitions went beyond the salon business.

“Although it was a lot of fun and very interesting — and I felt that I’d had a certain amount of success and done very, very well — I wasn’t really challenged enough,” he told CNN in 2007, recalling his early career. “Particularly, I didn’t feel I was mentally challenged enough. It was at that moment when I decided that I would start my own product range.”

In 1989, Frieda teamed up with beauty entrepreneur Gail Federici to launch a consumer haircare line, John Frieda Professional Hair Care. Having successfully debuted the company’s signature product, Frizz Ease, in the UK, the pair launched the range in 1990.

Designed to be applied to wet hair after shampooing, the anti-frizz serum’s promise was straightforward: “Frizz Ease turns dry frizzy hair into smooth shiny hair quickly,” Frieda told American viewers in a 1993 commercial . It flew off the shelves, effectively launching a new category of haircare products that did not previously exist.

Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan/Paul Bruinooge/Getty Images

By then living in the US, Frieda expanded his salon business throughout the 1990s, opening locations in New York and LA. His eponymous brand also used the success of Frizz Ease to expand its offering, including products aimed at specific hair colors — like the popular Sheer Blonde line, launched in 1998.

In 2002, Frieda and Federici sold their company to the Japanese chemical and cosmetics firm Kao Corporation for $450 million. Last year, the UK’s Sunday Times Rich List listed Frieda’s wealth at £150 million ($202 million).

Frieda married Scottish singer Lulu, with whom he shares a son, in 1977. He is also survived by his second wife Avery Agnelli, the widow of Fiat heir Giovanni Agnelli, and their two children.

著名发型师约翰·弗里达 (John Frieda) 去世，享年 75 岁。他以自己名字命名的产品系列，尤其是备受喜爱的 Frizz Ease 精华液，取得了巨大的商业成功。

据其位于伦敦的沙龙周三在其 Instagram 账号上发布的声明称，这位英国企业家“安详地”去世，家人陪伴在侧。他的客户包括麦当娜和戴安娜王妃。

声明补充道：“他的才华和热情感动了无数人，他的精神将永远铭刻在我们每个人的心中。”声明还称弗里达是“美发行业的真正偶像”。他的继女阿涅利·拉格朗日也在社交媒体上证实了这一消息，并称他为“有史以来最好的人”。两份声明均未提及死因。

弗里达的父亲是理发师（祖父是理发师），他原名艾伦·霍华德·弗里达，1951 年出生于伦敦。加入伦敦著名的伦纳德之家后，他开始使用约翰这个名字，因为这家沙龙已经雇佣了一位名叫艾伦的人。

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从20世纪60年代末开始，弗里达担任沙龙老板伦纳德·刘易斯的助理，为当时一些最知名的人物设计发型，包括米克·贾格尔、崔姬和杰奎琳·肯尼迪·奥纳西斯。1976年，年仅二十五六岁的弗里达在伦敦西区开设了自己的沙龙。同年，他为演员乔安娜·拉姆利设计了“珀迪”发型——一种时髦的锅盖头，拉姆利在电视剧《新复仇者》中以这款发型亮相，并因此名声大噪。

弗里达在20世纪80年代扩大了他的名人客户群，曾与戴安娜王妃、麦当娜和保罗·麦卡特尼等明星合作，并为电视节目和时尚杂志提供造型服务。他在伦敦高档的梅菲尔区开设了第二家分店，但他的雄心壮志远不止于美发沙龙生意。

“虽然那段经历非常有趣，也很有意义——而且我觉得自己取得了一定的成功，做得非常出色——但我并没有真正感受到足够的挑战，”他在2007年接受CNN采访时回忆起自己的早期职业生涯时说道。“尤其是在智力方面，我感觉自己没有受到足够的挑战。正是在那时，我决定创立自己的产品系列。”

1989年，弗里达与美容企业家盖尔·费德里奇合作，推出了面向消费者的护发产品线——约翰·弗里达专业护发系列。在英国成功推出公司标志性产品Frizz Ease后，两人于1990年正式推出了该系列产品。

这款防毛躁精华液的设计理念是在洗发后涂抹于湿发上，其功效简单明了：“Frizz Ease 能迅速将干燥毛躁的头发变成柔顺亮泽的秀发，”弗里达在1993年的一则广告中向美国观众说道。这款产品一经推出便迅速售罄，有效地开创了一个此前并不存在的新型护发产品类别。

Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan/Paul Bruinooge/Getty Images

当时居住在美国的弗里达在整个 20 世纪 90 年代不断拓展他的美发沙龙业务，在纽约和洛杉矶开设了分店。他的同名品牌也借助 Frizz Ease 的成功，扩展了产品线，包括针对特定发色的产品——例如 1998 年推出的广受欢迎的 Sheer Blonde 系列。

2002年，弗里达和费德里奇以4.5亿美元的价格将公司出售给了日本化学和化妆品公司花王株式会社。去年，英国《星期日泰晤士报》富豪榜显示，弗里达的财富为1.5亿英镑（2.02亿美元）。

弗里达于 1977 年与苏格兰歌手露露结婚，两人育有一子。他的第二任妻子艾弗里·阿涅利（菲亚特继承人乔瓦尼·阿涅利的遗孀）以及他们的两个孩子也健在。