John Frieda, the British hairstylist who worked with Princess Diana and Madonna before building the Frizz Ease haircare business, has died. He was 75.
His salon team announced the news on Instagram on November 3, saying he had died peacefully surrounded by his family.
The salon’s announcement did not specify a cause of death. The Times subsequently reported that Frieda died of cancer.
His clients included Twiggy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johansson. He also worked on shoots for British Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
John Frieda’s Salon Remembers the Man Who Trained Its Team
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“John was more than a mentor to us, he was a true icon of the hair industry,” the salon wrote in the statement shared by Just Jared. Staff thanked him for believing in them and helping them become better hairdressers.
Jo Wood remembered knowing Frieda long before his name became a beauty brand. She was 16 when he did her hair while working as an assistant at Leonard’s salon. They sometimes went to the pub afterward, she recalled, although she was still too young to drink.
Born Alan Howard Frieda in Middlesex in 1951, he came from a family of hairdressers. His father owned a salon, and his grandfather was a barber. He adopted the name John at London’s House of Leonard because another stylist there was already called Alan, according to The Guardian.
In a June 23 interview with the British Beauty Council, Frieda said his father had wanted him to become a doctor. Instead, he sent him to Leonard Lewis, who chose him as an assistant within a month after noticing how carefully he folded the salon’s towels.
Joanna Lumley’s Purdey Haircut Filled His New Salon’s Appointment Book
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Frieda opened his first salon in 1976, at 25. That year, he also created the rounded haircut Joanna Lumley wore as Purdey in The New Avengers, the television role that made the style widely recognizable.
Lumley had seen a cut and color he created for Vogue and called to ask whether it would suit her, he recalled in the anniversary interview. “Yes, I’ll make it suit you,” he remembered replying.
The haircut attracted magazine coverage during the month his salon opened. Frieda said the resulting demand left the business booked for its first six months.
He later brought an art teacher from the Royal Academy into the salon to teach stylists to draw faces. He wanted them to develop their ability to judge what suited a client, alongside learning the technical skills of cutting hair.
Frieda and Gail Federici Turned Salon Products Into a Global Business
His product business dates to 1988, with thickening lotion among its early offerings. American haircare executive Gail Federici met him that year and began helping him prepare the products for retail.
In a 2016 interview with Modern Salon, Federici recalled an adviser warning Frieda that appearing on television could damage his upscale image. She encouraged him to accept the invitation.
After the broadcast, customers called Boots stores looking for his products. Frieda, who was still running salons and doing editorial work, asked Federici to become his business partner.
The idea for a frizz treatment came partly from Federici’s own frustrations with her hair. She told the magazine that she had struggled to find products for her needs and saw an opportunity to develop something more specific than the shampoos and conditioners already available.
Frizz Ease became one of their best-known lines, followed by Sheer Blonde in 1998. Frieda moved to the United States in 1990 as the business expanded internationally.
Japanese cosmetics company Kao acquired the haircare company in 2002 in a deal valued at approximately $450 million. Frieda kept his salon business, which at the time included two locations in London, two in New York and one in Los Angeles.
His Family and Colleagues Share Their Tributes
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Frieda’s stepdaughter, Asia Agnelli Lagrange, shared photographs of them together on Instagram. She described him as an extraordinary man and said she was posting because he had touched so many people’s lives.
He was previously married to Scottish singer Lulu, with whom he had a son, Jordan. He later married Frances Avery Agnelli in 2019. They had two children, Jackson and Leyla, and he was stepfather to Agnelli’s daughter, Asia. He is also survived by two grandchildren.
Cetera Lamb, creative director of Frieda’s London salon, pledged to keep the business going following the death of its founder. “We will continue in his honour,” she said in a tribute carried by ITV News.