What Stylish Stylists

In shampoo circles, it takes more than lather and talent to get ahead. It takes personal pizazz, which varies from salon to salon.

Consider jeans, for example. Perfectly acceptable employee attire in many hair havens. But not for Allen Edwards, who has banished them. Too boring and “old Hollywood,” he says.

His creative-only dress code may be one of the most stringent in Southern California, but he isn’t alone in thinking a daily, impromptu fashion show is great for business.

Which doesn’t mean everyone has to look like a recent escapee from Milan or Melrose Avenue. In fact, too hip and trendy can be a liability in certain settings.

Fredy Arboleda, owner of Ravissant in San Marino and Downtown Ravissant in Pasadena, says he occasionally asks employees to soft-pedal their creativity. “They should give guidance and show they understand fashion. But I don’t think they should intimidate the customers.”

He won’t spend megabucks on his work wardrobe, but other stylists can’t resist being dressed to the hilt.

On a typical day at Syndicate in Encino, Daniel Combs (yes, it’s his real name), arrives in an outfit that may have set him back $1,600 to $2,200.

Chemicals have ruined some of his raiments, but it’s all for a good cause, he says. “You’re a reflection of your own services. You’re supposed to be doing current, fashionable work.”

For Shannon McMullen, an Allen Edwards’ stylist whose fashion taste runs from European designer to thrift-store chic, the ruin rate is once a week.

“It’s depressing,” she admits. “That’s why a lot times you see hairdressers wearing black or white. Black can be re-dyed and white can be bleached. But it goes with the business. And I love to look good.”