Nightly News   |  May 09, 2012

Vidal Sassoon, hair-care pioneer, has died

The brand that became synonymous with the catchphrase ‘If you don’t look good, we don’t look good,’ had a big impact on hairstyles and the fashion world. Vidal Sassoon died at the age of 84 in his Beverly Hills home. NBC’s Brian Williams reports.

Share This:

This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: Vidal Sassoon has died. He became a household name from some very humble roots. He was a poor kid from the east end of London , started working at 14, opened his first salon there, then he branched out into New York where his product line hit the market in 1973 . Sassoon was recently the subject of a documentary about his life and times in which he talked about his inspiration.

Mr. VIDAL SASSOON: When I looked at the architecture, the structure of buildings that were going up worldwide, you saw a whole different look and shape. My sense was hair dressing definitely needed to be changing.

WILLIAMS: He was a visionary. He styled hair for seven decades. He pioneered the so-called "wash and wear" hairstyle for women along with his signature geometric cut from the '60s. And he was the one who famously cut Mia Farrow 's hair for film "Rosemary's_Baby." He sold his brand name to Proctor Gamble years ago, but the Sassoon slogan always remained the same, "If you don't look good, we don't look good." He died at his Beverly Hills home today. Vidal Sassoon was 84.