by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Victor Benlolo

Age: 46

Occupation: Hairdresser extraordinaire

Bio: This downtown-residing hairdressing hero first arrived in Montreal as an adolescent after ethnic tensions in his native Morocco began making life there somewhat unpleasant. Learning his trade at both Charles of Westmount and his brother's hugely successful 1970s Crescent Street salon the Hair People, Victor gradually became restless to discover exciting new haircutting techniques and eventually relocated to sunny Los Angeles. Landing a gig at Universal Studios, he soon found himself working on the set of Charlie's Angels, assigned to work his magic on Farrah Fawcett-Majors' lustrous mop. "I actually added a new element to her hair that she kept for many years. But I never got any credit for it." Now back on his home turf of Crescent Street as the owner of both the Le Profil and the recently renovated Café Coiffure salons, this gifted artiste is capable of making even the homeliest among us look like something. He drives a 1976 Triumph Spitfire and likes women.

What the hey happened with the Hair People? He says it was "purchased" in what might be best described as a hostile takeover. "We cut everybody's hair then. The baseball players, the singers who would play at the Forum, all the hockey players - it really was the ‘in' place."

Was being responsible for styling "hockey hair" considered a positive endorsement back then? Apparently, given the popularity of the salon. "I've still got plenty of old customers from Hair People coming to me."

Do many people come in looking for the Farrah hairstyle these days? Absolutely. "People know that I really know what I'm doing with that cut."

Does he dream of the day when a hairstylist might be able to patent a hair style, perhaps in the same way Monsanto is patenting seed? Not especially. "When I want to invent a new cut I'll call up the best two or three hairdressers in town and we'll create it together. We figure out what kind of style we'll be promoting this year, create one, give it to all the magazines, and that's it."

The big difference between an $80 haircut and a $7 trim from Luigi the Barber? Skill. "But some people get away with charging a lot of money for a job anyone can do. There are salons that charge $250 for highlights and $100 for a haircut. It's ridiculous, even a student can do highlights."

What a haircut by Victor will run you: $45 for chicks, $25 to $30 for fellas.

Has he ever considered creating something totally ridiculous, perhaps along the lines of what the microcephalic [aka pinhead] cats were stylin' in Todd Browning's film Freaks, just to have a grand old laugh at the trendies who'll wear anything so long as it's fashionable? "No, but I'm often surprised at what works, what people want."

Last book read: Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom.

Musical preferences: Van Morrison, Springsteen, Joan Armatrading.

Words of wisdom: "Take it day by day."

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca