Heritage
The Mauritania
Heritage – A history of a hairdressing family
By Andrew Collinge
The Collinge story begins in the early 20th century on the North West Coast of England…
It was here that my grandfather, Wilfred, trained as a barber at Browns Barbers in Cambridge Arcade on Lord Street in southport…
In 1920, after fighting in World War I, Wilfred joined the Merchant Navy as the official barber on board a ship called Apapa…
The Jazz Age followed and women were empowered by the likes of screen vamp Louise Brooks. This is my take on her classic bob created for the Channel 4 TV series, Icons…
In 1945 my father Peter was 17 – and followed in his dad’s footsteps by going to sea too…but preferring instead to be a ladies hairdresser on board the liner the MAURITANIA…then commissioned as a troop carrier taking servicemen and women around the world…
Peter & Hazel Collinge Wedding
After the war the Mauritania was restored to her former glory as a luxury Trans-Atlantic liner, and Dad was invited to stay and joined the team in the ship’s hair and beauty salon where the rich and famous and stars like Elizabeth Taylor were pampered during the crossing to New York…
In 1948 Dad returned to Liverpool where he became one of Europe’s best known and most successful competition hairdressers, winning numerous awards and prizes for his work…
As you may have just spotted, Dad’s favourite competition model was called Hazel. They became boyfriend and girlfriend and they married in 1951…
Three years later as Dad’s reputation soared he opened his first ‘Peter Collinge‘ salon in Liverpool…check out the prices…10 shillings and sixpence was no small amount back then…but today works out at just 52.5 pence…
As for my mum, she and dad were a team, and when she wasn’t modelling she could be seen working on reception.
The Peter Collinge salon became the talk of the town and with the arrival of Merseybeat was an important part of the fabric of the early 60′s style revolution with Liverpool at its heart…
The company grew and grew – and in 1974 I began my apprenticeship with my father.
In the same year Dad was President of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing…one of the premier creative associations in the hairdressing world.
Vidal Sassoon & Peter Collinge
From the outset the Fellowship’s membership has included the greats like the legendary Vidal Sassoon seen here with Dad in the early 1970′s…
Meanwhile I moved to London and completed my apprenticeship at top Mayfair salon Michaeljohn. Assisting Michael in the salon and witnessing his creativity on photo shoots sparked my passion for dressing long hair and I went on to become Artistic Director and part of the Michaeljohn masterclass team
It was in London that I met my wife Liz. We married in 1980 and a couple of years later I re-joined the family business in Liverpool. Just like mum and dad, Liz and I were a team…
1985 was an exciting year for the profession as it witnessed the first British Hairdressing awards… and I was thrilled to win the first of my three consecutive regional titles and enter the Hall of Fame in 1987…
Liz was now one of the UK’s top make up artists, and when ITV’s This Morning started broadcasting from Liverpool’s Albert Dock in 1988, she and I were there from day one, and became known as the King and Queen of the makeover…
Voted British Hairdresser of the Year 1993
1993 has to be one of the highlights of my career for two reasons. First I was voted British Hairdresser of the year…and this is an image from that award winning collection…
1993 was also the year that the product range Andrew Collinge Salon Solutions was launched…
In 1996 I was honoured to follow in dad’s footsteps when I became President of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing…and Liz and I were delighted to welcome Vidal Sassoon and his beautiful wife Ronnie as our guests to the Presidents’ Dinner…
A year later and while still President of the Fellowship it was fantastic to be named British Hairdresser of the Year for a second time…
This, combined with the fact that we’d become well known for giving women new looks, lead to an invitation to Liz and I to open a luxury makeover studio in the world famous store, Harrods.
Voted British Hairdresser of the Year 1997
This was a memorable year because I was also invited to style the hair of royal bride Sophie Rhys Jones on the occasion of her marriage to HRH Prince Edward at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
In 2000 I became the first British Hairdresser to win the coveted AIPP Grand Trophy…It’s an award given by the world’s hairdressing press, and this image was part of my winning collection.
In 2005 the Andrew Collinge flagship salon opened on Castle St in Liverpool. Today the salon is firmly established as one of the finest in the UK.
Don’t just take my word for it – in 2008 Castle Street was voted Salon of the year by HAIR magazine. The salon has an impressive clientele including celebrities, movers and shakers, footballers and their partners.
In 2008 Liz and I had the honour of being invited by Autumn Kelly to look after her hair and make-up on the occasion of her marriage to Peter Phillips, the Queen’s eldest grandson. The wedding also took place at St Georges Chapel, Windsor.
Andrew, Christine Gilbert & Sarah Collinge
In 2009 the Andrew Collinge Graduates salon opened on Bold St in Liverpool. The Graduates concept was initially started by my parents over 25 years ago. The idea is to give trainees the opportunity to learn and gain invaluable experience in a salon working environment.
The results in producing top class hairdressers over the years have been impressive. Many of the young people who train through Graduates go on to achieve great things within the industry.
Under the direction of my sister, Sarah Collinge and a dedicated team, Andrew Collinge Training has become one of the most recognised training providers in the UK. In 2010 Sarah and I welcomed Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, to our Liverpool Graduate salon to see this success story for herself.