Upon meeting Frank Apostolopoulos I couldn’t help but feel slightly self-conscious about my hair, all the while knowing that I am in dire need of a cut and colour.
Owner of three BIBA hair salons and crowned Hair Expo’s Hairdresser of the Year four times, it’s obvious that the 36-year-old creative director knows his stuff.
At the age of 15 he got the idea in his head to try his hand at hairdressing and from that moment on “it just felt right”, he tells Neos Kosmos.
The institution that is BIBA, after 21 years, is not only his place of work but a place he calls home.
According to the hairdresser, the thing that sets this place apart from the rest is the emphasis on getting the cut just right for every client, depending on the texture of his or her hair.
“The cut’s our strength and that’s probably an influence of what Sassoon (UK-based salon) started in the ’60s and kind of changed the rules,” he says.
“Before then it was all about ladies going to the salon two or three times a week to get it set in rollers and blow-dried for it to stay. They turned it all around where it was about putting structure into hair, something that’s wash and wear.”
This shift in hairdressing is linked to a changing society; where everyone is constantly on the go with a million and one things to do, and little time to spend on themselves.
“Everyone’s so much more time poor, I guess, that I don’t think many people have that much time to sit in the bathroom every morning and spend a couple of hours getting it right,” he explains.
The key to a good haircut, he says, is good communication between the hairdresser and their client.
“As a professional you have to be honest and say that look’s going to look good or it’s not going to look right,” he says.
“I would never try and cut someone’s hair and then style it into something that hair doesn’t really do. So I’d look at your hair and see what the natural character of your hair is like and want you to walk out with that, so you know that tomorrow you’ll be able to wear that.”
However, with the rise of social media and the immense impact that celebrities have on fashion, people are not always after something that will suit them, but rather they want to achieve a certain aesthetic.
“The power of celebrity is huge and probably more powerful than ever. Just with social media being so big, all it takes is for Lara Bingle to post her new haircut on Instagram and then suddenly that arrives so quickly. Celebrity for me probably has the most influence. The moment you see images it’s so influential,” he says.
Since setting foot in the Australian hairdressing scene in 1994 a lot of things have changed in the industry, with fewer people aspiring to be hairdressers and ironically, even more competition than days gone by.
But one difference that stands out for Apostolopoulos is the attitudes of new emerging hairdressers.
A creative director, entrepreneur, and familiar with the training and educating of apprentices at the BIBA academy, he says he has noticed a drop in work ethic and a lack of a much-needed can-do attitude.
“I don’t think they have the patience to go through what I went through. If we were there until the morning training and doing stuff, it was just part of it and that’s it. I wanted to be there,” he says.
With modern-day celebrity culture and social media celebrating people’s 60 seconds of fame, there are many examples of people making it big with little evidence of hard work and dedication.
The way it seems to Apostolopoulos is that Generation Y want to be the best over night.
“They’re training, they need to learn. You want to be a hairdresser, an electrician, or whatever, you need to learn how to do it. If you’re cutting a client, you can’t think ‘oh it’s 6 o’clock now, I’d better stop’.”
He takes a hard line, but the advice he gives is simple logic.
“It’s to your benefit if you do well and if you don’t really want to be there, don’t do it,” he says matter-of-factly.
And really, it’s in one’s favour to follow his advice, having been recognised as the best in his field time and time again.
Judged against some of the biggest names in Australian hairdressing, including the likes of Joey Scandizzo, Caterina DiBiase and Dimitri Papas, the event, hosted by Schwarzkopf Professional, celebrates the industry from a creative, business and educational perspective.
Apostolopoulos had a folio and industry experience which, according to the international judging panel of beauty editors and hairdressers, could not be rivalled.
Stelios Aristidou from BIBA Salon in Hawthorn was one of the hairdresser’s mentors upon first entering the industry, and believes that people like Apostolopoulos and their achievements have raised the bar.
“I think the industry prestige has risen over the last 15 years. It’s no longer as frowned upon as what it used to be when I first started. If you were a high school drop-out or you weren’t good at anything, you were going to become a hairdresser. It doesn’t have that stigma attached to it anymore,” Aristidou tells Neos Kosmos.
“It’s people like Frank and other people in the industry who have raised the bar and put themselves out there, so the people are seeing that it’s a glamorous industry and a professional industry.”
Raised by hardworking Greek migrant parents, Apostolopoulos was given the freedom to follow whichever path he desired with only one request – that he work hard at whatever he chose to pursue.
Evidently he followed their instructions to a tee.
Since entering the industry, he has made use of every opportunity that has come his way.
Not only does he work in the salon cutting clients’ hair (with a long line of regulars, including celebrities that put their utmost faith in their hairdresser) but is also the brains behind two hair product lines, BIBA’s own label and Paul Frank & Co., in addition to travelling interstate and abroad to work on clients and other projects.
And he doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.
“All the stuff I’m doing right now is exactly what I want to keep doing. The mix is awesome and to me it feels like there’s nothing I want to stop doing,” he says.
But no matter how far and wide Apostolopoulos travels, no matter what amazing opportunities come his way, the salon and the client will forever be his favourite aspect of what he does.
“Forever it will be the client. That’s the most satisfying part of the job and it’s not about me seeing a creation on their head. It’s just me seeing someone being more beautiful than when they came in,” he says.
“It might be something minor that changes that face and the whole look from head to toe. That’s what I always strive for and that’s a challenge that will never leave me. You always need to put thought behind that.”
Expert advice:
Tip: “I want to see a photo because sometimes our language and the clients’ language is totally different. At least if they show you something, you have an idea of what they’re talking about. It gives you a guide.”
ADVICE FOR WOMEN:
“For girls who want to go a little bit shorter, but not too short, relaxed shoulder-length bobs are something that’s not new, but still exciting. Almost like a grown-out bob – a length that you can play with, but not one that looks so contrived.”
“Balayage is still huge at the moment. Variations on that, more subtle versions, so not as much of a contrast. And of course, one colour just to give the hair amazing shine.”
Tip: “If you’ve had a bit of a change with your haircut, the most sensible thing to do is keep the colour as simple as possible.”
ADVICE FOR MEN:
“For a very long time it was a daggy thing to have short back and sides. Now short back and sides is huge. Clean on the sides and back, but a little bit more relaxed on top that looks like your fingers have done it as opposed to the product.”