When I first moved to New York City at the age of 20, I was doing an internship at Henri Bendel, for college credit. Walking into the Henri Bendel store on 5th Avenue with its decadent stairway, as Garren stated, “Cecil Beaton style” and you would see the many celebrities and supermodels walking up to Garren’s salon. I quickly learned he was fashion's most sought-after hairstylist. I never actually saw him in the store. He seemed mysterious and liked to keep things discreet, but I always felt his presence, one of importance, by seeing the salon with his name on the window. I realized that that Garren was a legend, and I was excited recently to interview him for my magazine many years later.

Garren has had many noteworthy moments, cutting off Farrah Fawcett’s angel wings and then cutting her hair short in the early 80s for her role in Extremities, cultivating Madonna’s look for the famous SEX book, creating that short pixie cut for Victoria Beckham, and turning Haley Bennett into a style icon with her bob hair cut.

As I meet with Garren, interviewing him with a simplistic background, and listening to his many celebrity studded stories of success, I was drawn to his authenticity and, in some ways, the endless hustle, making sure I captured every detail of what he’s accomplished. With a storytelling ability, I can see why Garren choose to interview over Zoom. Now, let’s take the journey to the industry’s leading hair stylist history.

Foreword by Alison Hernon, Editor-In-Chief, PhotoBook Magazine

1. First, let’s talk about how you got into styling hair.
I would go through my mother’s magazines, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, all the time. My mother had premature grey hair starting in her 30’s and, at a young age, looked like a grandma. So, I started by styling her hair with teasing, brushing out and creating a Jackie Kennedy look for her at age 13. It instantly got noticed. Suddenly all my mother’s girlfriends had me doing their hair. At age 16, I was styling all the girls in high school. Now looking back at my high school yearbook, for 80% of the girls, I styled their hair for their Senior year photo. At that point I was self-taught. I copied the looks in the fashion magazines growing up and from the grand ladies of the 60’s. I was obsessed with Jackie O, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor – all the glamorous women. I also loved Vidal Sassoon for his edge and Alexandre de Paris.

2. How did you get into Hair Salons?
I am from Niagara Falls, NYC. At 16 years old, my guidance counselor had called my parents alarmed that I wanted to go to beauty school and said, “men don’t go to beauty school.” My dad’s response was “he is really good at it and will one day be famous.”

My brother at the time had a Beauty Salon in Niagara Falls. I worked there between 16-18 years old, and I had a big clientele and worked every day until 8pm. It was a family thing. I went to beauty school and started doing hair right away in Buffalo in a big department store.

3. How did you get to New York City?
In Buffalo, I entered a hair competition and won FIRST place and that is where I met the famous hairdresser, Christiaan, who was one of the judges. Christiaan introduced me to the team at Glemby hair salons who later appointed me as style director at a salon in the department store, Jenss, in the Boulevard Mall in Buffalo. They wouldn’t bring me to New York City right away. I had to prove myself first.

I was in my early 20’s divorcing my wife, had a three-year-old son, and was working at Jenss. At Jenss I met my life partner, Thom Priano. After three years, I was ready for a change, so I gave them an ultimatum, and I ended up at Suga salon in Bergdorf Goodman located in New York City. Thom ended up at Henri Bendel. We were in the city now and doing hair for society ladies. Within a year I was asked to go meet Polly Mellen and Irving Penn for Vogue, so I started doing Vogue. It was an exciting time. I was working with Irving Penn, Patrick Demarchieler, Richard Avedon, and Bill King.

Three years later in 1976, I had become style director of Glemby Salons, and they opened a salon for me at the Plaza Hotel, "Garren at the Plaza" That lasted till 1982. I continued freelancing doing advertising and editorials. At that time, I was working with Bill King, Arthur Elgort, Patrick Demarchelier and then I met Steven Meisel. I worked for him exclusively for about 20 years.

4. Tell us about Christie Brinkley.
At Bergdorf Goodman, the salon was led by hairdresser, Suga. He was welcoming and nice. Suga had a Vogue shoot he couldn’t do and he suggested me. It was a 5 page story with Christie Brinkley and editor, Phyllis Posnick. I had worked with both Christie and Phyllis previously for Glamour magazine but this would be my very first Vogue booking. Vogue liked what I did on Christie and I was introduced to two other Vogue editors, Jade Hobson and Polly Mellen. I thought "Oh my God, this is really happening !" When I met Polly, she was prepping a job at Irving Penn"s studio. She liked my work and I ended up working with Mr Penn and Polly regularly. This was the beginning of my 40 plus years working with Vogue.

5. Tell us about your work with Farrah Fawcett.
She was a big star and her hair was famous. Do I dare change anything about her hair? At that point, going into the 1980s, I felt she needed a change. The first day we did her hair, I played it safe with the fluffy, curly Farrah look, and it was all these gorgeous European clothes. The next day, I suggested we blow her hair straight and show how beautiful Farrah really is. Farrah liked it so much that she wanted her hair like this for a Studio 54 appearance, straight with fringe. The next morning the pictures come out in the Post and the Daily News, and there’s Farrah on the covers with her new look. That really was my launch. I didn’t realize how big that was going to be.

6. Tell us about The Plaza Hotel years and Oribe.
I met Oribe when he was 16 years old. He had the same path as I did: he went to Buffalo to build a clientele and worked his way to New York. I took him under my wing. I have always liked being a mentor, coaching and helping young talent. In New York, Oribe worked on editorials with Thom and me before starting his incredible solo career. Oribe was an amazing talent and we remained friends until his sad passing.

7. Tell us about working with Madonna.
I was working with Steven Meisel and a big moment came when when Steven called and said we’re doing Madonna for Vogue Italia. That was when we really nailed her Marilyn look. Next, I worked with her on her SEX book. I worked with her for four years steady. And then fairly regularly for her entire career. I last worked with Madonna on Rebel Heart and her Versace campaign, both with the photographers Mert & Marcus.

8. Tell us about Linda Evangelista & the supermodels?
With Steven Meisel, I was able to do all these crazy haircuts and color changes for Linda, Christy, Naomi, Amber. It was a great time when models were able to change their looks. This was the era of the "Supermodel", they were the STARS.

9. Tell us about Victoria Beckham.
At the time I met Victoria, she had longer hair. With her transitioning into a fashion designer, I felt the need to cut it short. It took some convincing, but once done she loved it. She made a big splash premiering her new look a few days later at the Marc Jacobs fashion show.

10. Tell us about Lady Gaga.
At the time no one really knew what Lady Gaga looked like completely. We wanted to strip all that extra away and showcase her natural beauty. We shot her for the Versace 2014 Spring collection campaign with long blonde platinum hair…very Donatella.

11. Tell us about Katy Perry.
I styled Katy as a modern Sophia Loren for Interview magazine She transformed from Pop Princess to Sexy Siren. Another time, I did Katy's hair in a short choppy cut for a Moschino campaign. She loved the look so much, she even wore it to that year's MET Gala.

12. Tell us about Haley Bennett.
For the movie, Swallow, I designed the hair looks for Haley to echo her character's evolution. Reviewers of the film said they thought the hair was intrinsic to the film, like Mia Farrow's cut was in Rosemary's Baby.

13. Tell us about the Henri Bendel years in which you managed the editorial and hair client worlds.
Garren New York, the Salon, reopened in 1993 in Henri Bendel, the department store on Fifth Avenue. The 800-square-foot salon had limestone floors and rosewood stations with bronze fittings. The concept of this store was only six stations, and the salon lured everyone from the fashion world. I loved having my reality world with my clients and making women look good as well as training and coaching the staff. And having my fantasy hair world with editorial and advertising. I was at Bendels for 12 years and then opened my next Salon, Garren New York at the Sherry-Netherland hotel in 2006.

14. Tell us about your Beauty Product lines.
I am one of the co-founders of R+Co. This November we are launching a higher end line, R+Co Bleu. The new 21-product line covers shampoos, conditioners, and hair masks. R+Co Bleu is a celebration of my career, an unadulterated expression of the glamour and transformation that is continuous throughout my work. This conscious line is color-safe, vegan, Leaping Bunny-certified, and gluten, sulfate, and paraben-free.

15. Tip on lasting all this time?
”No gossip.”

16. Where is next given COVID-19?
”I am not really sure, but since we hit rock bottom, something good must emerge.”

17. Social Media?
@garrennewyork

18. Contact for Garren?
Garren's longtime agent, Jim Indorato

Article by Alison Hernon, Editor-In-Chief, PhotoBook Magazine

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