He’s relatively fresh on the Canadian scene - he’s been in Toronto for less than three years – but Howard Barr is no bud on the vine in the world of hair. Canadian Hairdresser Magazine recently shot the breeze with Barr to hear his tales of travel, celebrity hair, and wild animals.
Barr leans back in his chair, comfortable and relaxed. He’s easy to talk to, has a quick, edgy sense of humour and a grounded perspective on the industry he’s chosen to work in. His career got off to a solid start when he was just 16 years old in his home town of London, England. He started an apprenticeship with the Steiner Organization, and worked as a stylist with them for one year. He then joined Tony & Guy, and also taught in their academy while building up his portfolio. At a tender of 24, Barr received a job offer from a Beverly Hills salon, Joseph Martin. He soon began freelance through a local agency and began picking up work, which included plenty of magazine plenty of magazine shoots with big name celebrities. Los Angeles, as one might expect, is a big draw for magazines around the globe looking for famous faces to fill in their pages. After a decade in the City of Angels, Barr packed up and went back to London to build his portfolio some more. Soon after, he arrived in New York, where he worked at the John Barrett Salon in the Bergdoff Goodman department store. He and his clients then moved down the street to Pierre Michel’s salon. Barr now works out of his ultra modern studio in downtown Toronto.
His Portfolio views like a coffee table book of hot Hollywood stars: Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore, an extremely pregnant Cindi Lauper, Briget Fonda – just to name a few. His clients roster is long, and, and star studded. He speaks matter-of-factly about the Rolling Stones video he worked on, (“It was interesting to see the contrast between the dressing rooms. Jagger’s was filled with health foods. Keith Richard’s had Jack Daniels and cigarettes.”), and minds his manners by keeping mum on the names of the more unpleasant celebrities. Though he peppers the conversation with big names when he’s pressed to, he is far from star struck.
“I’m more impressed with sport stars then movie stars,” he tells me with a shrug, most apologetic for not being more in awe of his red-carpet resume. “They’re the ones that amaze me.”
However, the truth is where there are celebrities, there are stories to be told.
“I really enjoyed working with Briget Fonda for German Vogue,” Barr reflects. She was a good sport. They brought in animals – a zebra, a lion, and an elephant. She was allergic to the lion and was breaking out in hives, but she didn’t complain.
Barr also tells me about the eight days he spent on a promotional tour with Bette Midler. “We went to London, Paris, Hamburg, It was strange, he says to be limousined around his home town, drinking tea at The Ritz. We stayed in amazing hotels and had private jets. It gave me an inkling of what it would be would be really wealthy.“ He says nostalgically. “I definitely recommend it.” He says with an iconic smile.
There have also been, however, some moments Barr would rather forget. The was the time he was working on a Paula Abdul television commercial and the star has to wear a wig. Always an energetic performer, Abdul danced her wig right off, sending it flying mid-scene. “l made sure to secure it really well after that.”
There was also a more mortifying scene earlier on in his career – perhaps and hairstylist nightmare. Barr was teaching and doing a presentation for a room full of people. “I was a bit nervous. I was styling bleached blonde hair. I cut my finger and was blood everywhere. After what seemed to be an eternity, a band aid was found, but things had already got messy.” Barr remembers, “the band-aid helped, but it didn’t stay on. Pink hair was the result. I think everybody saw it and my colleagues on stage with me thought it was hilarious. A number of ‘Do not try this at home’ jokes were lost on the Japanese students in the audience.
For the most part, though, his careers has been a long list of high achievements. “My career is just a fabulous adventure. I consider my my biggest accomplishments to have gone to three major cities and establishing myself.” Indeed, no small feat.
As an artist, he is driven artistically by what he sees around him, which tends to be big cities. “I get my inspiration from looking around, looking at the young people on Queen Street (in Toronto). In London, my inspiration is everywhere. It’s the most creative city in the world, and has the most creative youth culture. I watch old movies. When something comes back from a certain age, l take it and water it down.”

“Minimalism, simplicity, they have no time. We’ll always go back to simplicity, and that’s dominated by the haircut.”