Trevor Sorbie

Trevor Sorbie is a British hairdressing brand built around the salon group and haircare line of the celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie (1949–2024). Based in London, it runs a small chain of salons across the United Kingdom and sells a retail range of hair-care products that first appeared in 1986. The company dates its founding to 1979, the year Sorbie opened his flagship salon in Covent Garden [1][6]; Wikipedia records the first salon under his own name opening earlier, in Stamford Street, London, in 1977 [5].

The brand remains active. Its founder and namesake died in November 2024 after a diagnosis of terminal bowel cancer, and the salon group and product line have continued under the team he mentored [6].

The brand takes its name from Trevor Sorbie, a hairdresser widely credited with creating the wedge cut in 1974 while working as art director for Vidal Sassoon [5]. That style became the first hairdressing image published as a double-page spread in Vogue. Sorbie opened an early barbershop in Edmonton, North London, in 1969, then established a salon under his own name in Stamford Street in 1977 [5]. The Covent Garden flagship followed in 1979 — the date the company treats as its beginning and marks as its anniversary, describing the business in 2024 as celebrating "45 years" [1][6].

In 1986 Sorbie launched a range of consumer hair-care products, which Wikipedia notes were developed using feedback from salon clients [5].

Across the following decades the salon business became associated with a series of named cuts and techniques, including the Scrunch (1979), and the brand's heritage material lists creative collections through the 1990s and 2000s. In 2004 Sorbie was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year Honours for services to hairdressing, described by the company as the first hairdresser to receive the honour [5]. He was also a four-time winner of British Hairdresser of the Year.

In 2006 Sorbie founded My New Hair, a charity providing personalised wig styling for people undergoing cancer treatment [6]. According to Wikipedia, the project grew out of his work helping a family member create realistic wigs during treatment, and he later contributed to NHS wig-policy standards [5].

The retail line falls in the hair-care category. Individual products such as a Thicker and Fuller shampoo and a Long Hair Curl Cream are listed by third-party retailers including Superdrug and Cosmetify. The consumer range is manufactured by Trevor Sorbie International, described by Cosmetify as a London-based manufacturer, and distributed through multiple retail channels [7]. The salons themselves offer colour, cutting, smoothing treatments and hair extensions, and use professional colour ranges in-house.

The company positions the salons at the high end of hairdressing. It describes its aim as making "the ordinary extraordinary" and giving clients "a fearless and creative hair experience that's personalised to you," pairing each guest with a chosen stylist or colourist. Its art team states a goal of remaining "fearless, original and always evolving to be the leaders in the industry." The brand uses the tagline "Your Hair, Our Expertise."

The salon group cites the L'Oréal Colour Trophy in 2018 among its awards, alongside Sorbie's four British Hairdresser of the Year titles. In its 2024 obituary, Cosmetics Business characterised Sorbie as a "hairdressing icon" and "the pioneer behind the wedge cut," and noted clients including Dame Helen Mirren and Grace Jones [6].

The brand is active. Trevor Sorbie died on 8 November 2024, aged 75, after being diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer the previous month [6]. The salon group — six UK locations at the time of his death — and the retail hair-care line have continued operating, and the products remain in distribution through retailers in the United Kingdom and other markets. Cosmetics Business reported that his legacy is "carried forward by the team he mentored and inspired" [6].