Name us a hairstylist that's had more of an impact on the worlds of fashion and celebrity than Sam McKnight. We'll wait... Arguably an icon in his own right, McKnight is the creative brain and magic hands behind some of sartorial history's most legendary moments. 'Iconic people and iconic hair looks are not iconic in five minutes,' he tells ELLE UK whilst shooting an episode of 'It's Iconic...' in his wig-filled North London studio.
A visual library of the hair pro's extensive career, shelves upon shelves stacked with iconic hair moments fill the expansive space - just a glimpse into McKnight's undeniable influence on beauty. Kate Moss' era-defining undone waves? McKnight's styled them for two decades. Every notable Chanel show hair look under Karl Lagerfeld's reign? Dreamed up by McKnight. Princess Diana's post-divorce crop? McKnight's idea, of course. Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell... simply point to a nineties supermodel and chances are the backstage hair pro was behind their windblown, layered waves.
He's even got a personal connection to the first ever issue of ELLE UK, styling a young Yasmin Le Bon's hair for the cover. 'I had worked with Yasmin many times before then, and I went on to do a few more ELLE UK covers, quite a few with Yasmin, with Helena, with Naomi, with all the girls during that period.'
When he's not conjuring up editorial hair looks on set, supporting the next gen of stylists, or personally cutting Jodie Comer's hair in her kitchen, you can find McKnight tending to his fantastical garden, baking ginger cake or working on formulas for his next Hair by Sam McKnight product innovation. But, mostly you'll find him creating incredible hair.
ELLE Edit: Hair By Sam McKnight
Watch Sam McKnight's full 'It's Iconic' in the video at the top of this article.
