taken from msn news thing.
The $800 haircut
Madonna, Naomi Campbell and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the boldface names paying Orlando Pita $800 to cut their hair. Shear lunacy, or worth the buzz?
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By Rachel Lehmann-Haupt
June 23, 2007
Orlando Pita may charge $800 for a haircut, but if you ask him if he’s an “artiste,” he laughs and rolls his eyes. “I’m not,” says the 44-year-old Cuban-American as he studies my unruly brown mane. "I get creative with what I do, but I’m just a hairdresser."
It’s midmorning, and we’re sitting in his quiet, minimally decorated four-seat salon, three stories above the bustle of Manhattan’s trendy meatpacking district. A sleek black-and-white photograph of Kate Moss in a fierce blond hairdo decorates the wall behind his chair.
Orlando Pita may just be a hairdresser, but he has a list of celebrity clients that includes Madonna, Naomi Campbell and Gwyneth Paltrow.
He is just a hairdresser whose signature razor cut has appeared in international fashion magazines, including the February 2006 cover of Vogue (on the head of Natalie Portman). He is just a hairdresser whose clients fly in from Ohio, Paris and Russia, some maxing out their credit cards in hot pursuit of a celebrity glow.
He is just a hairdresser who says the last thing you should look like when you walk out of his salon is… like you just walked out of his salon.
For the $800, you get all this, a blow-out and a cup of herbal tea.
“For me a good haircut is a cut that doesn’t look like you’ve had your hair cut,” he says, slowly and carefully separating small pieces of my hair, blowing them dry and then cutting them with the gentle swipe of his razor.
Average haircut: $21
The average cost of a haircut in America is $21 ($22.39 CDN), according to American Salon magazine. Even here in New York, where beauty and fashion are expensive and chic salons commonly charge $400, Orlando’s price is stratospheric - a week’s salary for many of us.
At 9 on a weekday morning, I’ve shown up at Orlando’s Manhattan salon, Orlo, having just rolled out of bed. Sitting in his chair and sipping my tea, I’m the only one in the salon.
Orlando works in a slow, serious fashion and doesn’t talk unless you ask him a question. Feeling slightly guilty about the indulgence, I tell him that I want a look that’s more “Bohemian glam” than bling-bling.
“I was raised that $800 is better spent on psychotherapy than on a cashmere sweater - or a haircut,” I tell Orlando.
“My clients really care about their hair,” he explains. “Maybe they don’t pay that kind of money for a pair of shoes or a bag. It’s all relative to what we think is important.”
“I guess getting your hair cut can be one hell of a therapy session,” I say.
“A lot of people change their hair when big things happen in their lives, like when they’re going through a divorce or just got married,” he says. "It’s an outside thing, but it’s a reflection of what’s going on inside of us."
People apparently have a lot going on. Nancy Koehn, a business historian at Harvard Business School, says that Americans are using luxury consumption to establish their place in the social and economic hierarchy in unprecedented ways.
“The cathedral ceiling just keeps getting raised,” says Koehn. "What’s scary is how much of this is being supported by consumer debt."
Orlando’s price: $10 a minute
We are an hour into the cut.
At $10 a minute, Orlando is still cutting with intense focus, slowly and methodically removing hair from my thick ends yet maintaining the length.
“There are haircutters that charge $500, take 20 minutes to cut your hair and then move on to the next person like it’s a factory,” he says. "I don’t work that way. I try to give a haircut that grows out well and that lasts a long time, so you don’t have to come in that often."
Orlando taught himself to cut hair as a kid in New Jersey, inspired by the hairstyles of the old '60s and '70s movies he loved. He worked his way into the business as an editorial hairstylist for fashion magazines and gained a reputation among the models and celebrities whose photo shoots he worked on. Corporate fashion brands started to pay him enormous fees.
Pretty soon, he became a brand of his own, and, in 2003, he decided to put out a shingle. Sally Hershberger was already making waves in Manhattan with her $600 shag.
Orlando aimed higher.
“If you price yourself too high, the public will let you know,” he says.
So far, the public is paying. But not everyone is a fan. Insiders say that, while Orlando may be one of the best in the business, he is not innovating. Marianne Dougherty, the editor-in-chief of American Salon, says he hasn’t revolutionized the haircut - not the way Vidal Sassoon did with his wash-and-go cuts in the '80s, for instance. “I think people pay for Orlo’s cuts because they think the celebrity will rub off,” she says.
As Orlando finishes off my cut, I’m not sure if it’s the extravagance that makes me feel extra glamorous or the fact that my hair is just working right. I notice my face looks thinner, and my hair seems sculpted to fall in more natural waves.
The glamour factor
A few days after my haircut, I talk to Lori Goldstein, a fashion consultant in her 50s, who tells me that she goes to Orlo once a month.
“There are certain people who believe in the status and think the more you pay, the better you are,” she says. "That’s not me. Your hair is your ultimate accessory, and Orlando is like going to a good doctor. I’d choose this over going to the theatre or out to eat for a month."
While I would probably choose to eat, I can’t deny that Orlando’s haircut and high price made me feel terrific. I got a level of attention I probably wouldn’t have gotten if the price were lower.
Drazen Prelec, a behavioural economist at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, says that’s exactly the point. “When something costs that much, attention must be paid, and that can enhance your appreciation,” he says. "Price is buzz."
And God knows Orlando’s haircuts could become an expensive habit.
“It cost $800. He did Natalie Portman for the cover of Vogue,” I told a friend over lunch. Her mouth dropped. She is a senior vice president at a major fashion company and a mother of two - and not conservative when it comes to spending money on herself.
“I think spending $800 on your hair is absurd,” she said. "Maybe it’s because I have kids and there are just so many better things to spend that money on - like ballet class."
I can’t disagree, but my hair sure looks good. Unfortunately, a month later, it’s time for another cut.
man and i have a problem paying 15.00 hor a hair cut! 