Have you ever noticed that Kate Moss always seems to have fantastic hair? Whether she’s going for a cute elfin crop or a heavy fringed look, somehow, magically, it always really suits her.
The secret behind Kate’s ever changing, yet terrifically stylish hair, - is Galway born James Brown.
I caught up with him to discuss fashion, fads and of course, his most famous celebrity client.
With his faded blue jeans, fresh faced James looked more like a student than a celebrity hairstylist. His age – 38 – belies his fresh-faced appearance.
“No Botox. No nothing. I’ve never even had a facial,” he boasted.
James was born in Galway, one of three brothers and three sisters. In 2002, he bought a farmhouse there in the small village of Tynagh, to add to his homes in London and New York, the twin centres of his professional life. Galway, in contrast, represents off-duty James.
“That’s where I feel at home because I’ve had connections there all my life. I have all my horses there too,” he says. “My mum is from Clare and my dad is from Fermanagh and they have just bought a house 20 minutes away from me in Galway. My brother lives in Cork, one sister lives in Fermanagh and my other brother lives in Cavan.
“I normally make it there every weekend, no matter where I am in the world, because, to me, Galway is home.” The house is surrounded by paddocks and woodland with stabling for six horses. “I’m there six weeks every summer, as well as Christmas and New Year. I’m there as much as possible. After being at airports, working with celebrities and high pressure, I love the quietness of the Irish countryside,’ he says.
“I love going to the shops. Everyone is so friendly. They’ll say, ‘Hi James, how are you doing?’ and I love the peace. I just relax and ride my horses. It’s the complete and utter opposite to my working life.”
He isn’t joking about the celebrities and the pressure. His client list is straight ‘A’ – Anna Friel, Anne Hathaway, the Beckhams, Gisele Bündchen, Jessica Simpson, David Bowie, Kylie Minogue and Catherine Zeta- Jones, for instance – and he is in constant demand for his work on glossy fashion magazines such as Vogue,
Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle.
The Browns moved to Croydon, near London, in the 1970s and his introduction to hairdressing came early. Even as an eight-year-old, James was fascinated by hair. He persuaded his sister to give him a try as her hairdresser and his reputation spread – soon he had the entire street as his clientele.
At 15 he landed a job in a Croydon salon (they thought he was 18) and that, four years later, is where he encountered a 14-year-old schoolgirl named Kate Moss.
“I met Kate before she had started modelling – a couple of months before she was discovered.
“We basically grew up together. She was the same age as my younger sister. In suburbia, groups of kids hang out together.” The apprentice hairdresser and the wannabe model bunking off school to hang out in the local salon climbed the ladder to stardom together.
They were booked to shoot their, now legendary, Vogue cover in 1992 with photographer Corinne Day. She was just 17 and James was 22 – the youngest hairdresser to earn a career distinction some session stylists spend their entire working lives trying to achieve.
It opened the doors of posh London salons – Zoo in Covent Garden, then Brinks & Huck and then his own. All the while, Moss stayed loyal. He created all Kate’s incredible hairstyles, including her most recent fringed look.
“When we decided to cut the fringe, it was a very organic decision. We never sit around saying, ‘What can we do?’ We are soul mates. With the fringe, it was literally, ‘Come here. Sit there. Do this. Done.’
“When I cut her hair into a crop a few years back, she was already dressed to go out – she had her make-up on and everything. We were on our way out and I said, ‘Ooh, shall I cut all your hair off?’ Five minutes later, it was gone. Her hair had been very long and I just took it all off with a flash of inspiration. It’s always been like that with us.”
James has a weakness for Irish men – especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers – and told me he’d dyed his hair black in a ‘disastrous’ attempt to look like him.
“I did it in New York,” he says. “I had a couple of hours off and I thought, ‘Right, I’mgoing to dye my hair black’. I should know better but we all have mad moments. So I had to cut loads off and try to get it back to its natural colour.
“You just get bored don’t you? I was bored. I thought that I’d end up looking like Rhys Meyers and I ended up looking like Mr Bean.” Nice to know celebrity hairstylists have bad hair days sometimes, too! I ask if there’s any celeb he thinks could do with a hair makeover and he says Jordan is at the top of his list.
“I think she’s really beautiful and I love her as a person but the hair just kills me. It’s like 10 people’s different wigs on one head! I just don’t get it. I love her and I’d hate to sound like I’m slagging her off but the hair is just not right!”
James continues to work as Kate’s personal stylist and he has recently launched his own James Brown hair care collection through Boots.
