Would go to the moon if there's hair there: Jawed Habib

The popular stylist tells you why the beauty parlour business has come to a standstill

He styles the who’s who of Bollywood. Jawed Habib says that it is innovation that keeps him going. In a candid interview with Metrolife renowned hair-stylist, Jawed Habib talks about how the pandemic has affected the hair and beauty industry

Has the lockdown affected the hair and beauty industry?

The whole industry has changed a lot. The beauty industry has gone into DIY (do it yourself). The beauty parlour culture of India has finished completely. Post-Covid all we have is the hair industry, hair studios, and it’s just all various kinds of hair services. Beauty has gone home, but the hair has come to the salon. The hair was home for months and months, and hence it has become unhealthy and rough. Different services, like keratin, straightening, and other treatments to revive the hair are booming as Covid is slowing down.

Did you notice any trends in the hairstyles during the pandemic?

There are two aspects of self-care. One is to feel good about oneself, and the other is to swank it and flaunt it. Since people stayed home during the pandemic, so there were only two looks that went viral during Covid. One was long hair, which I call the “Behen Ji” look, and the second was with the boys, who were using just a trimmer on guard number 1 or 2, for them keeping a completely shaved head became a style. So during the pandemic, it was either no hair or long hair.

The hair and beauty industry in India caters to a very niche crowd. As an entrepreneur who owns a hairdressing chain, how do you think we can trickle it down to a level that an average Joe can also avail good hair-care services?
Haircut is a need. It is needed in Bombay and Delhi and in Saharanpur and in Meerut. I believe that slowly affordable hairdressing services are spreading out not just in India but in Bharat. You can talk about Faizabad, Ayodhya, Itanagar, Bhatinda, or any tier-II city in India, good hairdressing services are reaching everywhere! When we say that we have our branches in 120 cities across India, 100 cities are in Bharat and only 20 are in India. I think more than affordable hairdressing we need quality Indian made cosmetics which are affordable for everybody.

What are some differences that you have noticed amongst the consumers and their demands in India over the past few decades?

India being a very traditional and a very cultured country, the needs here are very different. In India people want to maintain length, so you can’t do many experiments with the cutting. So the cutting is very simple, like a step-cut, one-length cut, or a feather-cut. One major change that I have noticed is that stylistically the men of India have changed a lot. Hairdo-wise, men are more experimental, and that’s why the use of mousse, gel, and hairspray is very common. When my father started professional hairdressing the ratio of people who used to visit was 80 female and 20 male, and today it is 40 female and 60 male! In just thirty years the scene has completely changed, and probably that’s why you see that it is a male-oriented business
now.