John Frieda, the British hairstylist whose salons and Frizz-Ease products made his name familiar well beyond the styling chair, has died at the age of 75. His salon announced the death in an Instagram post on Tuesday, November 3, saying he had "passed away peacefully... surrounded by his family".
The statement called him "more than a mentor" and "a true icon of the hair industry", crediting him with teaching the salon's staff, believing in them and making them better.
Born in 1951 into a family of hairdressers, Frieda trained at the House of Leonard salon in London. By the 1970s he had established a reputation as a stylist to celebrities and high-fashion magazines, and he later opened his own salons, which expanded into an international haircare business.
His client list ran across several generations of public figures, among them Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, Twiggy, Mick Jagger, Nicole Kidman and Madonna.
The commercial side of the business grew alongside the salons. John Frieda Professional Hair Care, the company behind the Frizz-Ease line, was sold in 2002 to Kao, the Japanese cosmetics group.
Frieda married twice and had four children.
Cetera Lamb, creative director at his salon, said the industry had lost "a true legend, a real maverick in hairdressing".