From humble beginnings in Kirkcaldy, Sean Donaldson has gone on to open his own salon on Miami Beach and become hairdresser to the stars.
The 56-year-old Fifer has worked for celebrities including Victoria Beckham, Richard Branson and Martina Navratilova.
When Sean went to study hairdressing at what was then Kirkcaldy Tech and is now Fife College he had no idea of the amazing trajectory his career would take.
Someone must have sprinkled some magic dust on Kirkcaldy Tech’s class of ’89, however. A fellow student taking a foundation course in drama would go on to star in Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge, and Star Wars.
“I’ve never met Ewan McGregor but our time there crossed over and we’re both in Fife College’s Hall of Fame,” Sean smiles.
Kirkcaldy origins
Sean caught up with The Courier on a trip home for his grandmother’s funeral. Fittingly, for Victoria Beckham’s hairdresser, we meet at the town’s Victoria Hotel.
“It’s really lovely to be back in Kirkcaldy,” he says. “I’ve been away for more than 30 years but I’ve a lot of fond memories.”
After graduating, Sean became a hairdresser for Vidal Sassoon. He started in their Glasgow salon before transferring to Cardiff and then Atlanta, Washington DC and finally Miami, rising to become a senior figure in the organisation.
“Vidal Sassoon had sold the company on by then, but I was fortunate enough to meet him many times and spent time at his home in Los Angeles,” Sean continues. “He was a towering figure who revolutionised the hairdressing industry.”
Sean teamed up with Vidal’s son Elan Sassoon and his now long-term business partner Dianne Rosenfeld to launch Advanced Aesthetics, a one-stop shop where men could get their hair cut, nails done, a massage and other beauty treatments.
The financial collapse brought their business to a halt, however, and Sean began looking for his next project.
Narrow escape from Ponzi scheme
He and his business partner had several meetings in New York with a group of investors who were looking to set up a chain of salons.
“I did a business plan and they kept saying I needed to make the numbers look better,” Sean recalls. “I thought maybe I’d been too conservative and made them a bit more optimistic but what they asked for was so unrealistic I refused to put my name to it.
“One Thursday they abruptly cancelled a meeting and I found out they’d been arrested.”
Sean’s potential investor was none other than Bernie Madoff, the man jailed for the largest Ponzi scheme in history, which saw investors lose $65 billion.
“I’d been meeting with Bernie, his wife, his brother Peter, and his sons,” Sean laughs. “It was crazy. I think I had a lucky escape.”
In 2010 Sean and Dianne set up Sean Donaldson Hair. His salon is idyllically located on Miami’s South Beach. Around six years later he opened a second salon in downtown Miami.
He and his husband of three years, Kevin, live in a beautiful Miami apartment looking over the Atlantic Ocean.
Beckham and Branson
Among Sean’s regular clients are Richard Branson and Victoria Beckham. He regularly visits Branson’s private island to cut the family’s hair.
He even gave Branson an ‘out of this world’ trim ahead of his historic space flight in 2021.
Sean adds: “My husband and I were among a small group of people who got to go to the launch site and watch the lift-off. That was a pretty special day.”
He’s also been Victoria Beckham’s hair stylist for the past decade.
Non-disclosure agreements limit what he can say and he can’t share pictures of him with the Beckhams but he says the following: “They do keep a very tight control over their image because they are in the spotlight so much. But they’re the loveliest people and I get on very well with them.”
Other celebrities
In addition to Beckham and Branson, retired tennis star Martina Navratilova is a regular, and Sean has cut the hair of Cruel Intentions and Gosford Park star Ryan Phillippe, the Beckhams’ children Cruz and Romeo, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Kate Winslet and Sarah Brightman.
“Apart from a tiny handful of people – who I won’t name and who I never worked with again – the vast majority of celebrities whose hair I’ve cut have been wonderful people,” he says. “And of course it’s my non-celebrity regulars who are the most special to me.”
Later this summer Sean is taking part in an as-yet-unannounced lifestyle show for Channel 4 that will be broadcast next year.
Developing an AI hairstylist
Sean is also on the cusp of launching a remarkable new piece of technology. Along with his business partners he has developed a smart mirror that lets you try out different looks.
“It’s easier to show you than to explain,” Sean says, slipping into the seat next to me and showing me his phone.
The screen shows a picture of his business partner – a bald man called Andre. Sean swipes the screen and shows me pictures of Andre with various hairstyles that look as realistic as any photograph.
What’s even more remarkable is the video: Andre turns his head and his computer-generated hairdo moves with him.
“We’re going to do make-up looks as well,” Sean explains. “If you look in the mirror you’ll have a virtual make-up and hair artist standing behind you talking you through which looks work best for you.”
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