This month American Salon Digital Editor Kelsey Murray attended the Vaughn Grooming Workshop at the Vaughn by V76 offices in New York City. The workshop offered stylists the chance to learn the ins-and-outs of working with male clients and how to apply the techniques to models. A professional photographer then shot the models for portfolio use.
Vaughn Acord—co-owner and artistic director of Mizu Salon and V76 by Vaughn, and a grooming specialist and editorial artist with clientele that includes Al Pacino, Tom Brady and President Bill Clinton—invited guest educators Barry Hughes, Damian Santiago and Jesse Taylor to join him Sunday, November 16. As the group cut and styled hair, they welcomed Q&A from the audience. All stylists were given V76 styling tools to create their own signature looks.
“It’s effortless, its timeless, its handsome, its for gentlemen,” Vaughn said when asked to describe the brand. The products are for all ages and hair types.
“It solves problems,” Vaughn said. “It gets to the point quickly. It’s a lifestyle. It’s about a much bigger vision that I am looking at when it comes to a man than just his hair, or just his skin or just his shaving routine. It resembles what I’ve done my whole career and that is groom men for pictures, which then translates to the salon, when you’re grooming men for a boardroom, for dates, for whatever they need to find confidence to go out and do.”
Vaughn credits the runways in Paris, hairdressers in the industry and living in New York City for his inspiration. “I travel to many different boroughs. I see a lot of different people coming from all over the world, not just from the United States. They will sport and try things, both with clothing, their appearance, as well as their grooming,” he said. “I think it’s I get it from that, logical places like the street. But then if I want to get really deep I will look to hairdressers that I really respect. Or to what’s happening currently on the runways. Whether I subscribe to it or not at least I am flushing this stuff out.”
Vaughn said that he looks at all sorts of inspiration in order to filter and flush out trends. He then takes the runway trends and alters them for clients. That is when a salon steps up to the plate and always has answers for their clients.
About V76: V76 by Vaughn celebrates the tradition of men’s grooming with an American sensibility. The sophisticated collection offers must-have classics updated for the modern man—and does so with an effortless, uncomplicated approach.
Photo taken by Kelsey Murray; featuring Vaughn Acord and Reuben Carranza, President of R+Co & V76 Luxury Brand Partners, and stylists who attended workshop.
Gallery photos by Matt Licari.