He pioneered a holistic approach to haircare, co-created a unique haircutting method and developed special scissors for it. He was also among the first to apply the balayage technique in a natural and entirely individual way, adapting it to each client’s hair, features and personality. No wonder many celebrity clients have visited his salons. Today, Rossano Ferretti’s company is a global luxury hairdressing and haircare empire comprising more than 20 exclusive high-end HairSpas in prestigious locations around the world, as well as its own designer haircare line.
We meet Rossano Ferretti at La Réserve Eden au Lac Zurich, where his newest HairSpa has just opened inside the hotel. Yet our conversation quickly moves beyond hair. Instead, we find ourselves talking about intuition, curiosity and the courage to do things differently. Raised in a small village in Italy, Ferretti built a global brand by questioning industry norms and creating his own path. Today, at 66, his focus is shifting from building a business to passing on what he has learned. The thread connecting it all? A belief that listening – to hair, to people and to his instincts – is an increasingly rare skill and perhaps his greatest success.
Ladies Drive: When you touch hair, what is it that you feel, see, or hear?
Rossano Ferretti: Speaking with hair is magic and pure joy. It may sound strange, but hair has its own movement, its own character, and its own force. You have to learn to respect it. If you rush and impose your own ideas, you ruin it. My philosophy has always been to follow the natural movement of the hair. The hair tells me what to do, not the other way around. Every person is different, whether their hair is curly, straight, fine, or thick. The challenge is to understand what is already there and how to work with it.
Perhaps that’s part of the challenge today. We’re constantly encouraged to perform, share, and make ourselves heard, but very rarely taught how to listen.
Exactly. Listening has become a lost art. Whether you’re working with hair, leading a company, or building relationships, you need to observe, understand, and respect what is in front of you. Most people are always in a hurry. They want immediate results. But if you don’t listen, you miss everything. In my salon, we listen to the client first. If you don’t listen, you lose what makes every person and every head of hair unique.
When did you realise that your vision was different from everyone else’s?
I’ve never been interested in doing what everybody else was doing. When I opened my first salon, one of the most famous hairdressers in Italy came over to see the new place. He looked around the salon and said, “Beautiful apartment. But in six months, this will be a failure.” Now, that was my warm welcome to the industry. I had taken out a big mortgage to create something that didn’t exist at the time. Everybody else was selling colour and cuts. I was selling an experience. Today, that sounds normal, but nearly forty years ago, nobody spoke that language. People thought I was crazy. But I believed in it. I paid off the mortgage in two years instead of ten, and within three years, I had a four-month waiting list. Looking back, I think people recognised that we were offering something different.
What was a defining moment early in your career?
I was nineteen years old and completely unknown. I remember one day being asked to replace a hairstylist at a big fashion show. Suddenly, I found myself standing in front of Giorgio Armani and some of the biggest models in the world. You can imagine: at that age, I was sweating. The situation was completely crazy for me. Mr Armani walked around, pointing at his mood board and saying, “I want the hair like this, and I want the hair like that.” I remember thinking, “Wow, okay, let’s do this.” So, without overthinking, I simply did what felt natural to me. When I finished, Armani came over, touched my shoulder, and asked, “Who are you?” I thought, “That’s it. I’m going home.” I said, “I’m Rossano. But if you don’t like it, don’t worry, I can leave.” Instead, he asked, “Did you do this model’s hair?” I said yes. And he replied, “Then make sure you do all the others.” That changed everything. He told me I had an instinct for hair and beauty unlike anything he had seen before.
Do you think talent alone is enough to be successful?
I’m disruptive, very brave, and I have a great talent. God gave it to me. Talent is a gift, but it has to be nurtured. I’ve been feeding my talent all my life. Every experience, every mistake, and every challenge has taught me something. I never believed that being talented was enough. You have to keep learning, keep questioning yourself, and keep evolving.
What made you challenge the traditional way of cutting hair?
Traditional hairdressing is based on geometric cutting techniques. At the time, that was simply how everyone was taught to cut hair. I wanted to create something completely different. I believed that hair shouldn’t be forced into a shape, but respected for its natural movement.
How did you turn that philosophy into the Ferretti Metodo?
I developed, together with my sister Lorenza, what is now known as the Ferretti Metodo Cut: a method that works with each person’s natural texture and movement rather than forcing the hair into a shape. I spent seven years developing my own scissors, designed to slice rather than chop the hair. I worked on them together with my sister and my team. Creating the scissors was a job in itself. The first challenge was to find an artisan who could produce them. We found an old Italian craftsman in Friuli, northeast of Venice. I went to him with my request. At first, even he thought it was impossible. He told me he had spent his entire life creating scissors that cut perfectly, while I was asking him to create scissors that would slice rather than chop the hair. The goal is simple: when a woman leaves the salon, her hair should still look and feel right when she washes it herself at home.
You’ve often said that you sell an experience rather than a haircut. What do you mean by that?
Hair is emotional. People trust you with a very important part of who they are, so the relationship has to begin with listening. In our salons, we sit down together before anything happens. We try to understand who the person is, what they need, and how they want to feel. That’s why I never wanted to create traditional salons. The haircut is only one part of the experience. That’s why we believe in our HairSpas. It’s about creating an intimate space where people can slow down, feel cared for, and have a moment entirely to themselves. Many years ago, Anna Wintour came to one of my salons and told me, “You are like Tiffany, but for hair.” I have always remembered that. Not because of the compliment, but because she understood that what we were creating was about much more than a haircut.
What qualities do you look for in the people you surround yourself with?
That’s simple: a big heart and a lot of passion.
Is there one hairstylist on your team who embodies your philosophy better than anyone else?
There isn’t one person who is the best. I don’t believe in the best or the worst. I believe people should become the very best version of themselves. That’s already a great achievement. Many of the people leading our salons today have been with me since they were very young. I’ve had the privilege of helping them build their careers and make their dreams come true. That’s something I’m incredibly proud of.
After four decades in the industry, what keeps you going? What drives you?
You always need to keep pushing yourself. The day you stop evolving, you’re finished. As I always tell my wife, I want to die working. I’m curious by nature. I always want to learn something new, see something new, and create something new. That’s what keeps me going. Now I’m 66 years old. I’m not a young boy anymore. There’s a moment in life when you learn and grow. Then there is a moment when you make some money. And then there is a moment when you give back. For me, this is that moment. That’s why I decided to start teaching at Istituto Marangoni in Milan. I want to share my experience with the next generation and help them avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way. I come from a small village and had no money. To build a global brand from that starting point is something I’m very proud of. But if you ask me whether I’m happy, the answer is yes. Not because of what I’ve achieved, but because of what I can still do tomorrow.
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