Moffitt and Sassoon Talk Fashion
More than 400 students, editors and nostalgic fashion fans turned out for the Otis College of Art and Design’s “Inside the Designer’s Studio: Back to the Future With Peggy Moffitt and Vidal Sassoon” event, held March 25 at the California Market Center in Los Angeles.
Large photo props of Moffitt, the 1960s-era model, and of hairstyles by Sassoon, who got his start in hair design in the same decade, were displayed onstage.
Otis Fashion Chairwoman Rosemary Brantley, who served as the event’s moderator, discussed how Sassoon revolutionized hairstyling techniques, hair products marketing and studio settings for hair stylists—including his move from the stationary hair dryer to the handheld dryer—and pointed to how daring and artistic Moffitt was when she posed in a topless bathing suit.
Moffitt and Sassoon reminisced about the iconic designer who brought them together: the late Rudi Gernreich. “I always said that if I were a designer, I would be Rudi, and he always said if he were a model, he would be me,” Moffitt said.
The two recalled the Swinging Sixties in London and how fashion became a central focus during that era. Sassoon discussed his hairstyles that made celebrities famous, including the shorn hairstyle he gave actress Mia Farrow for her role in the film “Rosemary’s Baby.”
“Peggy Moffitt and Vidal Sassoon are supreme role models to our students,” said Otis School of Fashion and Design President Samuel Hoi. “Behind their groundbreaking contribution to fashion, style and culture is a genius combination of creative instinct, hard work, passion and fierce individuality. We are so pleased to have this privileged occasion to revisit their successes and be inspired by them all over again.” —Claudia Figueroa
