Last Updated on August 9, 2024
The highest tier of hairstyling and barber work is relatively small. Famous clients who are constantly in the public eye need to be extra careful about choosing the pros who work on their hair since their hairstyle is so interwoven with their image.
It’s not easy to get called up to the big leagues, but once you’re in, a positive reputation can earn you a lot of work, and that’s exactly what happened to our interview guest, Luca De Vincenzo.
De Vincenzo grew up in Italy and studied barbering and hairstyling for years, becoming the director of a major salon in Rome at a young age.
He’s an official ambassador for the Original Toiletries brand, and he has competed in numerous competitions through the years.
De Vincenzo has trained barbers and stylists throughout Europe, and he’s easily one of the top barbers worldwide.
In this interview, we talked to De Vincenzo about some of the specifics of working with celebrity clients, of which he has many, including recording artists like Eros Ramazzotti and Guè Pequeno, the founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Lalibertè, and famed film producer Alberto Grimaldi.
It takes skill and finesse to work with clients like these, and it takes even more than that to get called back for future cuts and styling. To learn more, feel free to read through our interview with De Vincenzo below.
InspirationFeed (IF): You’ve worked with many VIP clients. Do you ever feel intimidated when styling a celebrity?
Luca De Vincenzo (LDV): I work with many celebrities and also with politicians, important doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, and CEOs. But for a long time, it was hard to not feel nervous when meeting a celebrity.
Over the years I have learned to better manage situations and don’t feel that pressure anymore. So I’ve reached a point where I don’t feel intimidated. Instead, I just feel excited to work with celebrities whose work I really admire.
IF: How did you get to work with Eros Ramazzotti? What kind of look did you create for him?
LDV: I worked with Eros Ramazzotti on several occasions, like before a concert and when he needed to have a different style for a video clip with Luis Fonsi.
Before a concert one time, I created a style with little drawings around his head. For the video clip with Luis Fonsi, I created a short mullet style that looked great on him.
When I started styling important people and celebrities, that led to good word of mouth, so I’ve gotten many more clients that way.
IF: How about Guè Pequeno? What was it like meeting him for the first time?
LDV: Guè Pequeno is an amazing artist but also a great person, very humble and easygoing. It was a great experience to style his hair the first time. It was funny, too, because we decided to change his style with an old-school slicked-back haircut that he’d never had before. He kept that style for a while.
IF: Guy Lalibertè is another famous client. Did you feel the pressure when working with him?
LDV: Guy Lalibertè is one of my favorite clients. His career and his life are unbelievable. He’s one of the clients that has impressed me the most. I felt a little pressure the first time, but he immediately made me feel at home. He’s very friendly.
He’s said that I’m his favorite barber in the world. He travels a lot all around the world, so he’s tried many hairstylists, and when he told me that I felt super excited and proud.
IF: Do you get to decide on looks for these clients or do they always make that choice themselves?
LDV: Usually, when I meet a client for the first time, they try to give me a general idea of what they want. From there, I suggest a change of haircut or style and they usually go with it.
There are some clients, especially artists, who really trust me and let me express my creativity.
IF: One of your most interesting clients was Alberto Grimaldi. Have you gotten a sense of his personality from your sessions with him?
LDV: Alberto Grimaldi was the best client I ever had. When he died last year, I felt terrible. He’s my idol and a true gentleman as well.
He was just so friendly and funny, telling me stories and the actors he’d worked with. I’ve seen so many of his movies, like Gangs of New York, Last Tango in Paris, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, so it was a thrill hearing those stories. I feel so lucky to have met him.
IF: What do you enjoy the most about getting to work with so many celebrity clients?
LDV: Working with so many celebrities isn’t easy. It’s not enough to just be good at cutting hair. You have to know how to introduce yourself and how to talk with clients.
Some of my favorite aspects of working with these kinds of clients are listening to them, hearing their stories and also seeing them wear my cuts on TV.
When a client asks to work with me again, out of so many hairstylists and barbers, it makes me feel wonderful and so proud of my work.
