Focus on "fashions"

Like the clothing industry, the hairdressing sector adds value to its basic services by creating, popularising and ultimately superseding new fashions. Ladies' hair styling in particular has been affected by fashions for many years, while an increasing number of men now change their hair style on a regular basis.

Vidal Sassoon is widely credited for introducing modern fashion into ladies' hair styling. His revolutionary cuts, such as the Nancy Kwan bob in the early 1960s, offered an exciting new alternative to the traditional perm or shampoo and set. Other leading hairdressers have also set new fashions in hair design. Daniel Galvin, for example, popularised colour tinting during the mid 1960s.

Many stylists take an active role in the industry in order to keep abreast of the latest fashion developments, often by attending competitions and exhibitions. Practical training in new techniques is available from a number of different sources.

Although fashion changes represent new opportunities for modern, forward-thinking salons, they threaten the position of the traditional, old-fashioned outlet. Salons which do not offer the latest styles may fail to project a desirable image and may consequently experience a downturn in trade. Changing fashions may affect the salon in a number of other ways, including;

• the appearance (external and internal) and even the name of the outlet
• the range of services offered (see Nature of the trade: Sales mix)
• the length of time typically required to style a client's hair (a perm, for example, sometimes takes 4 hours or more, compared to around 1 hour or less for a basic cut and blow dry)
• the average spend per client
• the frequency of regular clients' visits (the roots of highlighted hair, for example, may have to be tinted every 4 weeks or so)
• the amount and cost of styling products typically used per client; this may affect the ratio of purchases to turnover (see Performance indicators: Main performance indicator)

In some instances, a short-lived fashion results in a salon being left with surplus stocks of specialist styling products which are no longer in demand.