get serious
Errol describes at best as “tough”, he decided there was no way he was going to let anybody in on his little secret; his love of hair. The youngest of five brothers who were all, as his parents had hoped, academics, Errol was something different. He recalls: “Where I was from, if you
said you wanted to do hair you’d get the shit kicked out of you. So I kept it to myself, bar a couple of good female friends, but it was always what I’d wanted to do. I can’t remember that first ‘lightbulb’ moment, it was more like a laser beam that just sucked me in. I had volumes of Vogue and Harper’s hidden in my room and I was obsessed with fashion and design – I loved the shape and balance of things.” One thing was for sure, Errol knew he
had to get out of East London and to “the bright lights” of the West End. But it was more than just being surrounded by the glitz and glamour, he felt he needed to surround himself with art and culture to continue to grow creatively. At 14 he used his pocket money to
bribe his older brother into taking him to Knightsbridge, where he later opened his salon in 1998. Taking in the sights and sounds, the captivating windows and the bustling salons, the teenage Errol knew exactly where he needed to be. Luckily his parents, having seen
his focus and ambition, gave their blessing to his career choice and his mum, Lynn, even got him a Saturday job at the salon where she had her hair done. But at Mrs Johnson’s Errol was in for a rude awakening. “It was the sort of place where if you
got a 20p tip, you were lucky. The owner always had a fag in her hand and a cup of tea on the go, even when she was with a client! I’ve always been a little snob – my parents raised me to have strong values – and something inside me just screamed ‘no, no, no, no, no!’” says Errol. “When I told her [the salon’s owner
and namesake] I was leaving because I couldn’t work that way she was shocked, in fact she looked like she wanted to hit me but even then, at that age, I had high standards. The customer and their experience has got to be the best.” Embracing his love of shape and style, a
college course in Art and Design later Errol began an apprenticeship at Roger Hart’s salon. It was there he would meet a man who, in his own words, would “change his life”. Errol says: “I met a guy there called
Paul Edmonds, he was only 28 or 29 at the time and already so talented. This guy knew everyone, from editors to celebrities and he always introduced me. In all honesty it was a poxy little shop but it had that all important thing and what I couldn’t
Errol with singer Kelly Rowland
97
sacrifice on: standards.” It wasn’t long before Paul and Errol
were off to even greener pastures. Paul was headhunted by Sloane Street’s Neville Daniel and, as Errol puts it: “I was his assistant so it was very much a case of, where he shall go, I shall follow!” Of course it wasn’t long before Errol
was making his own waves. After only four months and aged just 18, he was the head junior out of 25 at the busy salon. His clients included everyone from famous personalities to socialites and the 20p tips he would have been lucky to receive at Mrs Johnson’s had now been replaced by £400 tucked neatly into a little brown envelope. Commercial success wasn’t far behind;
after meeting TV stylist and producer Jane Galpin – who currently works alongside
Gok Wan on How to Look Good Naked
– Errol was catapulted to new heights. Jane gave Errol his first leg up in the TV and fashion world and he quickly became involved in the Clothes Show, as well as numerous other fashion events and consumer work. The early 80s saw Errol receive his first nomination for London Hairdresser of the Year. He says: “I’m a climber; I wanted to be
successful but I didn’t climb over people to get where I wanted to be. I’d done so much consumer stuff so it was brilliant to get that recognition from my own industry and start getting really involved in the pure, hair side of things.” >>
Errol received his MBE in 2008
“We were green, bog-eyed apprentices watching our heroes onstage. I remember us saying: ‘That’s going to
be us one day’.”
Errol Douglas MBE
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