• Luís Llongueras, the celebrity hairdresser, dies at the age of 87
  • Lluís Llongueras, the picarón who stopped being a virgin at 17

As in all artistic fields, and hairdressing is not far behind, there is always a genius who marks a before and after. In Spain, with Rupert's permission, that genius was Lluís Llongueras (Esparraguera, Barcelona, 1936- Barcelona, 2023). Genius, among other things, because he elevated hairdressing to art (for example it remains that the last years of his life was dedicated to photography and sculpture) and because, also, he rubbed shoulders with other geniuses, such as Salvador Dalí himself.

From Llongueras we will remember his voice, without a doubt, and his Llongueras Method, which they still use today in the franchises that bear his name (today under the Provalliance group, to which Franck Provost or Jean Louis David also belong) and whose idiosyncrasy lies fundamentally in the haircut used as a means of expression where the technique merges, The trend and emotion, understanding hair as a material to be sculpted through strokes that generate volumes and reliefs that frame and highlight natural beauty.

When he picked up the award as International Hair Legend 2019 in 2019 at the International Hairdressing Awards that were held then in Madrid, he spoke of the origins of his success: "I was the first to create a cut that disheveled women's hair. The first, together with my partner Vidal Sassoon, now deceased, to open a school to teach my techniques to the world. As for the style, I chose to create a more Mediterranean style... My success? Perhaps it has no more merit than to have grasped what the woman was looking for."

The 'pelo pincho' of Julia Otero at the end of the 80s, work and grace of LlonguerasGETTY IMAGES

Julia Otero, woman Llongueras

One of those unforgettable women to whom Llongueras "captured what he was looking for", was undoubtedly Julia Otero. For the Spaniards, and more those who lived the 80s and the television of the time, it was a 'boom' for his haircut, 'pelo pincho'.

When the presenter replaced Jordi Hurtado as presenter of '3x4', in 1988, it was not only the journalist's know-how that captivated the viewers. His hair, that palm-like cut paraded, with an indisputably rocker point, broke molds.

It is said that the journalist was a regular at the Barcelona salon of Llongueras on Avenida Pau Casals and between the two they were architects of that original 'spiked hair' cut that attracted so much attention. Years later, in the mid-90s, Otero herself interviewed the hairdresser for 'El País Semanal', who told her about another of her clients, Queen Sofia. "I convinced her to abandon her curlers over the phone. I begged him to let himself be styled by our stylist in a different way, while absolutely respecting his style. 20 years ago, of course."

Lluís Llongueras or the power of the image

Today's hairdressers have Instagram to showcase their work and convince the public. Llongueras was a forerunner of social media, absolutely aware that a picture is worth a thousand words.

They tell from their brand that, in the 60s, with just over five years of professional career, Llongueras began its international expansion by disseminating photographs of its creations through the main fashion magazines around the world.

Nothing like his own hair works to make himself known and start having his own clientele (until now he was a hairdresser at home) in his first luxury salon in the upper area of Barcelona (where he went, among others, Dalí).

The success of Llongueras is inevitably to the audiovisual that he knew how to take advantage of, see how in the 60s he already appeared on Spanish Television and No-Do, from where he broadcast his hairdressing collection.

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