It's all in the hair
 "Jen Atkin")
The fall months should have been a bonanza for beauty trends as global fashion weeks set the aesthetic of the season in dramatic runway gestures. But arguably the most influential hair arbiter of our time was nowhere near the fog of hair spray that clouds the backstage areas.
Rather, you were more likely to find her, a brunette waif from Los Angeles named Jen Atkin, breathing the rarefied air of celebrity hotel rooms.
On a bright fall day, she was holed up in the Trump hotel in SoHo, wrapping up work on two of her famous clients: Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian. Earlier, she had tended to Kim Kardashian and her daughter, North, and after a week of curling, teasing and smoothing the tresses of the entire sisterly crew (she styles the sides of their hair while her assistants work on the back), Atkin was exhausted. “I maybe have two years left in me of this,” she said, flopping down on a hotel banquette.
That’s because in a relatively short time (it was about five years ago when she first did Kim’s hair for a <I>Cosmopolitan </I>magazine shoot), Atkin’s star has played out like a feverishly hot new TV show. Her work — along with the Kardashians, her clients include Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara and Katy Perry — has been disseminated via traditional and social media to hundreds of millions of followers. She herself now has some 900,000 followers on Instagram.
Whatever her hair skills, Atkin knows what women want. The beachy waves that continue to appeal long after summer is past? You can thank Atkin for her oft-imitated version, which has become a Khloé Kardashian signature. Or the tousled short bob: See Atkin’s recent cut on Jenna Dewan Tatum.
Her sway is such that she now employs 20 people to help run her growing empire, which along with her celebrity clientele, includes <I>ManeAddicts.com</I>, a hair content site; Mane University, professional hairstyling classes with lauded stylists like Rita Hazan; and a hair-care line called Ouai scheduled to be introduced next spring.
Atkin credits the rise of celebrity influence to realistic circumstances. “I love that ’80s structured hair, but we are never going to go back to there,” she says, adding that her trademark is “undone hair.” Women simply don’t have the time to imitate those coifs. “Especially in America, we barely have 30 minutes to go to Drybar,” she says.
In the hair world, Atkin stands out in other ways too — her drive and discretion. As much as she has benefited from the celebrity wattage, she hasn’t been blinded by the klieg lights. Her Mormon upbringing, she said, has kept her grounded.
Atkin says that she spent a “very sheltered” childhood on Oahu’s North Shore and in St George, Utah, though she was obsessed with pop culture. Even as a teenager, having given herself a Natalie Imbruglia razor cut (from the “Torn” video), she was determined to make a career in hair. It wasn’t the typical Mormon track. “I was the odd person out in my family,” she says.
So at 19, when she moved to Los Angeles with her best friend, it was a very “Romy and Michele” moment, she says. Back then, she says, church members would approach her mother to say, “I’m so sorry for your daughter.”
In 2000, she landed a job as a receptionist at the prestigious Estilo salon. “I was, like, feeding Stevie Nicks and Bette Midler’s meters for about two years,” she says. It was also where she saw talented stylists crash and burn from drugs and overspending. “It was people who had a lot of clothes in the closet, no money in the bank,” she says. “They thought they were the celebrities, that this would never end.”
Atkin eventually worked (and networked) her way up, assisting the hairstylist Andy Lecompte on Madonna’s 2006 “Confessions” tour, and for five years, she was the personal hair stylist for John Galliano. She worked hard and steered clear of gossip. In fact, despite what may seem like a predilection for oversharing on social media, Atkin doesn’t divulge much about her clients beyond what’s already out there. That’s one reason Khloé Kardashian favours Atkin over other celebrity hairstylists.
Also, the intimate nature of celebrity hairstyling (Kardashian sees Atkin nearly every day, often in the crotchety early-morning hours) requires an easygoing demeanour. “I genuinely love Jen’s personality.” Kardashian says. “She’s snarky and witty and has phenomenal one-liners. She’s become one of my best friends.”
More important, just because the two have become close, Atkin has not taken advantage of her position. “It’s knowing that I could hang out and get drunk with you and you’ll never take advantage,” Kardashian says. “Some people, you give them an inch and they take a mile. Jen is always on time in the morning.”
Rather, you were more likely to find her, a brunette waif from Los Angeles named Jen Atkin, breathing the rarefied air of celebrity hotel rooms.
On a bright fall day, she was holed up in the Trump hotel in SoHo, wrapping up work on two of her famous clients: Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian. Earlier, she had tended to Kim Kardashian and her daughter, North, and after a week of curling, teasing and smoothing the tresses of the entire sisterly crew (she styles the sides of their hair while her assistants work on the back), Atkin was exhausted. “I maybe have two years left in me of this,” she said, flopping down on a hotel banquette.
That’s because in a relatively short time (it was about five years ago when she first did Kim’s hair for a <I>Cosmopolitan </I>magazine shoot), Atkin’s star has played out like a feverishly hot new TV show. Her work — along with the Kardashians, her clients include Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara and Katy Perry — has been disseminated via traditional and social media to hundreds of millions of followers. She herself now has some 900,000 followers on Instagram.
Whatever her hair skills, Atkin knows what women want. The beachy waves that continue to appeal long after summer is past? You can thank Atkin for her oft-imitated version, which has become a Khloé Kardashian signature. Or the tousled short bob: See Atkin’s recent cut on Jenna Dewan Tatum.
Her sway is such that she now employs 20 people to help run her growing empire, which along with her celebrity clientele, includes <I>ManeAddicts.com</I>, a hair content site; Mane University, professional hairstyling classes with lauded stylists like Rita Hazan; and a hair-care line called Ouai scheduled to be introduced next spring.
Atkin credits the rise of celebrity influence to realistic circumstances. “I love that ’80s structured hair, but we are never going to go back to there,” she says, adding that her trademark is “undone hair.” Women simply don’t have the time to imitate those coifs. “Especially in America, we barely have 30 minutes to go to Drybar,” she says.
In the hair world, Atkin stands out in other ways too — her drive and discretion. As much as she has benefited from the celebrity wattage, she hasn’t been blinded by the klieg lights. Her Mormon upbringing, she said, has kept her grounded.
Atkin says that she spent a “very sheltered” childhood on Oahu’s North Shore and in St George, Utah, though she was obsessed with pop culture. Even as a teenager, having given herself a Natalie Imbruglia razor cut (from the “Torn” video), she was determined to make a career in hair. It wasn’t the typical Mormon track. “I was the odd person out in my family,” she says.
So at 19, when she moved to Los Angeles with her best friend, it was a very “Romy and Michele” moment, she says. Back then, she says, church members would approach her mother to say, “I’m so sorry for your daughter.”
In 2000, she landed a job as a receptionist at the prestigious Estilo salon. “I was, like, feeding Stevie Nicks and Bette Midler’s meters for about two years,” she says. It was also where she saw talented stylists crash and burn from drugs and overspending. “It was people who had a lot of clothes in the closet, no money in the bank,” she says. “They thought they were the celebrities, that this would never end.”
Atkin eventually worked (and networked) her way up, assisting the hairstylist Andy Lecompte on Madonna’s 2006 “Confessions” tour, and for five years, she was the personal hair stylist for John Galliano. She worked hard and steered clear of gossip. In fact, despite what may seem like a predilection for oversharing on social media, Atkin doesn’t divulge much about her clients beyond what’s already out there. That’s one reason Khloé Kardashian favours Atkin over other celebrity hairstylists.
Also, the intimate nature of celebrity hairstyling (Kardashian sees Atkin nearly every day, often in the crotchety early-morning hours) requires an easygoing demeanour. “I genuinely love Jen’s personality.” Kardashian says. “She’s snarky and witty and has phenomenal one-liners. She’s become one of my best friends.”
More important, just because the two have become close, Atkin has not taken advantage of her position. “It’s knowing that I could hang out and get drunk with you and you’ll never take advantage,” Kardashian says. “Some people, you give them an inch and they take a mile. Jen is always on time in the morning.”
©2015 The New York Times
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First Published: Nov 21 2015 | 12:07 AM IST