Tuesday, January 2, 2007












Tony Beckerman with his friend and mentor Vidal Sassoon (Pictured above) in 2005
Vidal has been my mentor since I was a kid of 15 years old.

I had the pleasure of working in his New Bond Street Salon (in London) from 1960 until 1971, then I moved to the USA to help begin the "Sassoon" revolution, which became the bible of haircutting for the professional hair industry.

I left the Sassoon organization in 1975, but I still keep in touch with Vidal and as many of the original "Sassooners" as possible.

My philosophy and standards were established by Vidal and the team and I am proud to continue the same in my business and life.


I also owe a great debt of gratitude and thanks to another of my Sassoon mentors and still my very close friend Robert Edele (Pictured to the right), who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to come to America and help him open up the first advanced academy in San Francisco for Sassoon.


Many of the industry "icons" passed through that school (on Ellis Street) as we began to teach a system of haircutting and styling that would change the USA (and the world) forever.

Our teachers in the San Francisco school were very special...Alan Benfield-Bush; Max Papier; Ruthie Standaart; Marge Steiner (the Nun); Kenny Burke (great haircutter); and many more. We were all under the direction of Robert Edele, who was President of the salons and academies and he was with Sassoons for over 30 years.

Alan lives in Sonoma County and owns a winery. Max lives in Sacramento, California and is still active in the hair business. Ruthie got married and I have lost contact with her. Margie Steiner passed away in 2003 (G-d bless her soul). Kenny works in a top salon in the San Francisco area and also does occasional seminars for Redken.


Vidal lives in Beverly Hills with his wife Ronnie and they also commute to their home in London, England.

Robert Edele lives in Ventura County, California with his wife Jan and their son Sacha. Robert is semi-retired but still works out at the gym every day.
I'm happy to say that we continue to stay in touch and reminisce over old times.

I'd love to hear from you too......?


Tony



















Monday, December 11, 2006




Tony & Simon Cowell







Tony & Randy Jackson


TONY S. BECKERMAN

For Immediate Release:
Tony S. Beckerman is a world-renowned hairdresser with more than 40 years of professional experience. He began his career in London, England, with the aspiration to become Vidal Sassoon’s personal assistant. Achieving his goal, he was asked by Mr. Sassoon to travel to America, introduce and teach the famous geometric precision cutting techniques to the U.S. and Canadian hairdressers in the early 1970’s.
Tony traveled throughout the world demonstrating and presenting his incredible skills. He has been responsible for the training of many of today’s top hairdressers.
After sixteen years with the Sassoon organization, Tony and his business partner formed Fashion Media, Inc., a Seattle-based company dedicated to the education of the working hairdresser. There, he co-produced the first consumer “Hair Fair®”, for the professional beauty industry.
In 1982, he joined Image Laboratories, Inc., a Los Angeles based manufacturer of professional salon products. He reworked the company’s entire product line to meet exacting professional standards. He then went on to share the most effective methods of utilizing the products with a national audience.
Tony amassed the expertise with product development skills and practical cosmetic chemistry knowledge that has made him one of the industry’s foremost authorities as a new product innovator and presenter.
In 1995, Tony joined Matrix Essentials®, to work in liaison between Marketing, Education, R&D and the professional hairdresser, to help develop new concepts in hair care, hair color and chemical service products. He was also the Team Leader and Coach to the famous Matrix Design Team. His list of contributions to the company’s top-selling roster is impressive, including the creation of Matrix’s C.R.A.F.T.© Cutting, which became the foundation to their haircutting techniques.
In 1996, Tony was selected by Vidal Sassoon as one of the “Famous 20” original hairdressers who helped Mr. Sassoon train and create his empire.
In 2002, Tony developed a full line of hair care products for a major chain of salons in the USA.
In January 2004, Tony was appointed as Chief Development Officer for LaVar Holdings, where he was responsible for the creative development of the Ellin LaVar Textures® line of hair care products.
Today, Tony heads his own consulting company called TSB-Cutting Edge Resources®, based in San Marcos, California, which specializes in Creative Product Development, Educational Concepts, Hair Cutting & Designing, Personal Coaching, Hair Photography and Motivating Presentations.
In addition to lecturing on the hairdressers view of cosmetic chemistry, briefing the consumer press on professional & retail products and demonstrating his unique hair cutting & styling skills, Tony works closely with many businesses through their R&D, Sales, Education, Marketing & PR departments, to develop new, creative concepts and innovative beauty products that can be used to increase business at the professional salon & consumer levels. He is currently an active member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC) and interfaces with some of the top scientists and manufacturers in the world.
His haircutting techniques, artistry and creative work have been featured in major publications throughout the world. Tony is a most exciting and entertaining speaker with great personal warmth and humor. He has dedicated his career to advancing the profession of hairdressing, by raising consumer awareness to the special benefits of salon services. He welcomes dialogue with fellow professionals and all who are around him.

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For More information:
E-Mail: Tony@TonyBeckerman.com or call 1-760-295-0227