ONE of the world’s most famous hairdressing brands is to move out of Glasgow.

Vidal Sassoon will close its Princes Square salon today, ending a thirty-year association with the city centre shopping centre, reports our sister title The Herald.

In a message to customers, the brand, said it was “with regret” that the business was closing permanently, adding: “We are honoured to be part of Glasgow business community for 34 years.”

Glasgow Times:

Clients were being offered a 50% discount at the firm’s other salons in Manchester, Leeds and London. Staff are believed to have relocated to another city centre salon.

It is a further blow to the Buchanan Street centre after the departure of major fashion brand Whistles last year.

Last month, celebrity hairstylist Nicky Clarke announced the immediate closure of his Mayfair London salon, saying the combined effects of the pandemic, declining passing trade and rising rates had meant the salon was no longer economically sustainable.

Glasgow Times:

The late Vidal Sassoon, CBE, was one of the world's first celebrity hairdressers, with a client list that included Twiggy, Jane Fonda and Mia Farrow.

He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the bob cut, worn by famous fashion designers including Mary Quant.

He opened his first salon in London in 1954, when he was just 26 years old.

His early life was one of extreme poverty, with seven of the first years of his life spent in an orphanage. He left school at 14, and his mother suggested he try to get a hairdressing apprenticeship. 

He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, where he opened the first worldwide chain of hairstyling salons, complemented by a line of hair-treatment products.

In 2012, the year of his death, he was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.

Katie Moody, Centre Director, Princes Square said: "We're saddened to see Vidal Sassoon close their doors after so many years, due to the company going into administration. We wish the team well.  

"At Princes Square, we have been buoyed up by the increase in footfall to the centre and further good news of three new store openings - Suit Direct, UK's largest retailer, opened last week; luxury shoe brand Carvela are due to open on the jubilee weekend, and we have another major worldwide brand, Dermalogica, opening mid-June."