Johnnie Sapong Celebrity Hairstylist

Introduction - Johnnie Sapong Celebrity Hairstylist

Johnnie Sapong is famous for many things ranging from his work as a celebrity hairdresser to his own dreadlocks.  The London-based scissor man who has roots in Ghana is beloved for his super cool styling and his amazing edgy, layered haircuts.

Sapong grew up in the London suburb of Ealing with his best mate, the artist Steve McQueen, whose film “Hunger” won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2008.

The art student has been styling hair for most of his adult lie.  During his time attending Art College a friend's sister offered him an opportunity to help out at her prestigious West End salon.  That salon just happened to be the famous Molton Brown.  From the time he started working with hair, he never looked back. 

Johnnie Sapong Celebrity Hairstylist - List Of Some Celebrity Clients

Sapong regularly creates spectacular haircuts and designs for some of the biggest, brightest International celebrities including Natalie Portman, Demi Moore, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kiera Knightley, Justin Timberlake and Johnny Depp, to name just a few of the many celeb heads he's touched.

The uber cool hairman who describes his own fashion sense as “casual slick” favors labels with good ethics.  He often travels around the world working with his stable of famous clients on magazine editorials, press junkets, movie premieres, red carpets and other celebrity engagements.   Johnnie currently divides his time between London and New York.

His work has been seen on the pages of prominent international style bibles such as Allure, Glamour, W, GQ, i-D, Muse, Vanity Fair and Vogue (Italian, German and Japanese editions)

Johnnie is one of the few hairstylists who have keyed collections in all of the major cities - New York, Milan, Paris and London.

These collections, to name a few, are Dior, Gucci, Jenny/Byblos, Darryl K., Jovovich Hawk, Valentino, Dunhill, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, H&M, Hussein Chalayan and Alexander McQueen.

Strong Ties To Family - Johnnie Sapong Celebrity Hairstylist

He still has strong ties to his Ghana roots.  He describes his grandmother as "my guiding light" and when he needs some R&R, peach and tranquility, he travels to Ghana to visit her.

Of course Sapong loves to work on the tresses of non-celebrities as well.  As far as Sapong is concerned the stylist cares most about "creating luscious locks."

Johnnie has his Studio, a Firzrovia salon (011-44- 208-560-2172) which is nothing like a usual salon.   Sapong describes his salon as “The vibe  is more like you’re on a photo shoot with Johnnie.”

Johnnie Sapong Celebrity Hairstylist Dreadlocks

Sapong who is Rasta has worn his own hair in dreadlocks since 1988.  He views his hair as part of his own personal journey of discovery.  He views his dreads as being part of the life cycle.  For Sapong his hair and having locks is similar to the story of Samson and Delilah.  For him, hair is strength.

His dreads are also part of his identity and signature look.  He wears a wide range of tams, which he calls hats, on his dreads.  People see his hat as part of his iconic style.

Sapong gets his tams from a variety of places including spectacular red, gold and green tams his niece in Ghana used to hand crochet for him.  He also has a treasured tam from his mother-in-law.

Sapong doesn't mind people touching his locks. but he prefers to only have those near and dear to him touching his stunning locks.  His wife Karen oils his scalp for him.

Magic Bag Of Hair Tricks

The iconic celebrity hairstylist has his own bag of magic hair tricks which he depends upon for creating picture perfect hair.

He never goes on set without Leonor Greyl Éclat Naturel, a botanical styling cream for dry hair. “It’s not overly greasy, so you can give hair some movement and separation without it getting saturated with product.”

He also swears by hand-carved wooden combs. “They offer more control than regular combs,” he says.

“You can direct hair up from the root for a sleek chignon or topknot, or use them to make a graphic imprint on shorter sculpted or gelled styles.”

Where does he get his inspiration?  The magical hair man's main influence is taken from the streets, and finds inspiration from movies and art.