Leonard of Mayfair, also known as Leonard Lewis was born in June 1938, and died in November 2016.
He was a British celebrity hairdresser.
He was one of Britain’s most influential hairdressers, credited with creating the haircut that launched the career of prominent 1960s model Twiggy as well as establishing the careers of other successful British hairdressers, including John Frieda, Daniel Galvin, Nicky Clarke, Keith Wainwright and Michael Gordon.
Leonard’s hair styles were at their most fashionable during the Vogue sittings of the late 1960s and early 1970s, for which he would “illustrate the exuberant moment when hair was somehow a totem of youth and freedom in itself”.
Leonard had worked with many of the leading photographers of the day, including Clive Arrowsmith, Terence Donovan, David Bailey and Barry Lategan for fashion publications such as Vogue and Queen, often collaborating with designer Zandra Rhodes who favoured Leonard’s colourist, Daniel Galvin, whose vibrant shades of pinks, blues and reds, were revolutionary at the time.
Leonard’s film work is also renowned.
Leonard worked closely with film director Stanley Kubrick on many of his films.
During its heyday, his five-storey salon in London’s Mayfair was considered the epicentre of all that was fashionable in the late 1960s and ’70s.
Leonard’s clients included Jack Nicholson, Jerry Hall, Meryl Streep, Warren Beatty, David Frost, Barbra Streisand, Catherine Deneuve, Jean Shrimpton, Bianca Jagger, and Tony Curtis.
He was married to model Ricci Wade, together they had a son Dominic.
During 1980, Lewis married Petra Arzberger, a German heiress, but, later divorced.
During 1988, a brain tumour effectively ended his career.
Leonard Lewis’s death was announced on December 1, 2016.
Leonard Lewis passed away at 78 years old.