Celebrity Hairstylist Harry Josh's Big Break and Career
How Harry Josh Became the Moniker of "Supermodel Hair" — Then Built His Own Empire
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Then, after a decade of "bobbing around doing hair on the side," came his big break: the then beauty director of Vogue magazine was testing models at Yves Saint Laurent for a shoot and told one of them, "I love your hair colour." She replied, "Thanks, Harry Josh does it." Another model lifted her head around the corner and said, "He does my colour, too." Even the sales associate jumped in to add that Josh cut his hair.
"I got a call from her office saying she wanted to come check out my apartment," he said. "It was a crappy space, with a Bed Bath & Beyond mirror that was duct-taped because it was cracked in half and a paint stool that I had stolen from the Plaza's dumpster. She couldn't believe that's where these girls were coming — they could have gone to any top salon in the city for free, but this is where they went."
Months later, the story — about a young, up-and-coming hairstylist named Harry Josh — was featured in the magazine. After that, it was like "going from zero to 1,000," he said.
Within weeks, Josh booked his first photo shoot at a major fashion magazine. He was taking celebrity clients like Hilary Swank and Mary Louise Parker at his SoHo apartment. He even landed a TV segment on The Oprah Winfrey Show called The Greatest American Haircut, where he and three other major hairstylists made over the studio audience.
The latter was the lightbulb moment his parents were waiting for. "They just couldn't believe it — Oprah was a show they watched daily," he said. "I called them right before and said, 'Pay attention today. You're going to see something special.' It was very cool."