CAREERS

adventures of a… HAIR Icon

From leaving school at 15 to building a global haircare brand, Kevin Murphy shares the lessons behind almost 50 years in hair

“Kevin is a dreamer.” A comment that appeared regularly on Kevin Murphy’s school reports. “It wasn’t a good quality in the classroom, but it’s a good quality when you grow up,” he laughs. “I really wanted to work and be independent. I always wanted to be a hairdresser.”

With hairdressing in the family, (his mum was a hairdresser, as was his cousin), by 15 Kevin had left school and started his own journey into the industry. “I used to make up haircuts in my mind when I was at high school and then practise them after school on my friends.” Almost 50 years later, it’s safe to say the dreaming paid off.

But learning his craft came with an unexpected challenge. Kevin is left-handed, and his mentors struggled to teach him techniques. His solution? Watch, mirror and figure it out himself. “It actually made me a better hairdresser because it made me think about what I was doing,” he explains. “I had to get creative with how I approached a haircut. I had to learn by watching and then turn it upside down in my head to make it work.”

That problem-solving mentality would prove useful throughout a career spanning salon work, fashion, editorial and education. “Fashion taught me how to work as a team and appreciate people’s point of view. Education taught me how to understand and become a better hairdresser – you had to really break things down so it could be learnt,” he says. “But my biggest chapter of learning was in the salon. Your work ethic is tested every day and you remain grounded. I became the hairdresser I am today because of my time in the salon – it shaped my experience and taught me discipline.”

Then came a lesson from one of pop’s biggest names. Kevin joined Kylie Minogue on his first concert tour in the 1990s, watching as she moved from huge arena performances to endless meet and greets. “She was a confident businesswoman who knew exactly what she needed to do, and all with a twinkle and a giggle,” he remembers. “By watching Kylie, I learnt how to be professional, how to be on time, how to be present, be on top of your game and how to love what you do.” There’s one piece of Kylie wisdom that has particularly stuck. “‘Go where your fans are.’ I’m still living by that today – and I still love what I do.”

Working alongside major names and brands also influenced Kevin’s approach to business. “I’m kind of not very good at business. I’m good with people,” he says. Hairdressing taught him to read people quickly, while being surrounded by those with different expertise taught him the importance of letting go. “I knew trusting the people around you was the best thing I could do.” It’s a philosophy echoed in the advice he’d give any hairdresser building their career: “Always work with people that know more than you.”

These days, Kevin might not be behind the chair every day, but creativity still fills his schedule. He’s heavily involved in product development, from creating fragrances to signing off packaging concepts, alongside meetings and plenty of international travel.

And despite the celebrities, fashion work and magazine covers that have filled his career, Kevin’s proudest moments happen on a much smaller scale. “It’s when I’m doing some of the more intimate shows and younger hairdressers let me know how I’ve inspired them or helped them in their careers in some way,” he says. “You can talk about all the celebrities and Vogue covers in the world, but when someone tells you you’ve changed their life, it never gets old.”

Perhaps that’s why, almost five decades after starting out, Kevin remains so optimistic about hairdressing. In an increasingly digital world, he believes the very thing that has always defined the profession – human connection – could become its greatest asset. AI for example? Kevin isn’t losing sleep. “The robots are not coming for your scissors or your tint bowls,” he laughs. Instead, he believes now is the moment for hairdressers to celebrate what technology can’t replicate: creativity, trust and connection. “This is our time,” he says.

Not bad for someone whose school report said he spent too much time dreaming.