Edward Tricomi: Why Chasing the Art Instead of the Money is the True Secret to Longevity in the Beauty Industry

As a part of our series about “Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Edward Tricomi.

Legendary Warren-Tricomi Salons co-founder Edward Tricomi is known for demanding excellence in everything he does. The roots (no pun intended) of his renowned career began after a suggestion from his sister that he try cutting hair to supplement his income as a musician. Decades later, Edward is perhaps the most iconic and influential hair historian of our era. He has worked for years designing hair for fashion shows including Valentino, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianfranco Ferre, Emanuel Ungaro, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was a musician at 18, and my sister was a hair stylist and asked me to work with her and ended up liking the job. and went back to school for hair. After I graduated, I moved to New York City and got a job at a salon called Cinandre, which was the like the Studio 54 of salons back in the day — my first client was Salvatore Dalí!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

One of many stories — Gilda Radner just started working for SNL. I was cutting her hair and asked her about her job. She said, “Well, I’m a comedic actress — I just started working on Saturday Night Live.” I said “Oh, when is it on?” She said, “Saturday Night!” Since then I was invited to watch the show and I ended up hanging out with the cast every week after the show. I was eventually invited to work with SNL and did hair for McJagger and The Rolling Stones.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

When I got the job at Cinandre I knew it was a game-changer and would launch my career. It was from there that I started my career with Irving Penn and American Vogue, which were the first shoots I ever did in my life, and after that my career just took off.

When I started to work with Xavier, I started to do photo shoots. I was living with Janice Dickinson and she introduced me to Polly Mellen. Polly came in for a haircut and loved what I did, so the next day she booked me with Irving Penn at Vogue.

In your experience what were the most effective ways for your business to generate leads and sales? Can you share a story or give an example?

I was lucky enough to come from a great heritage of salons and created great photoshoots — we did a lot of magazine shoots and tv shows back then. Always surrounded by the top 1% clientele has it perks.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I got to work with Helmut Newton and Deborah Turbeville — the most iconic photographers in the world. I worked a lot with Deborah. She was like the John Lennon to my Paul McCartney; she was my art partner. She passed away three years ago, and there’s nobody since then who can replace her. Nobody shoots like she did. Deborah was the first photographer to shoot distressed backgrounds. All the other magazine photographers, would shoot with clean backgrounds. Deborah shot in abandoned buildings, everything crumbling and so on. Her work was heavily texturized, so the hair became texturized too.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

When I would be working with Polly Mellen, she was very strict about being on time. If you came even one minute late she would throw you off the shoot — I’ve never been late to a shoot since!

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

Any entrepreneur, you have to have a vision, and you have to then be able to execute on that vision.

I always wanted to be the best in world, and you really have to study for it. I was lucky enough that my grandfather was a fashion designer — so as a kid growing up, I was exposed to Vogue and Bazaar and all those magazines.

You also have to understand the history of fashion and the history of hair — how hairstyles are came into fashion and how it fits in to big picture. Even the history of hairstyles, like how the ‘Rosie Riveter’ style came to be because of women entering the workforce and their long hair couldn’t be down for it would get caught in the machines, and how men had cut their hair short during wartime so enemies couldn’t grab it, and how it eventually came into everyday fashion.

You have to bring all your knowledge to a shoot, look at the clothes and makeup being used and create something that brings everything together that helps to execute the designer’s vision.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Can you please share “Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

1. Know who you are and what your style is going to be.

2. If you know your look, you can create a style that fits you.

3. Don’t be afraid to change your look — Different styles can reflect different points in your life.

4. Take care of your hair — use the best products for your hair.

5. As you get older and/or are suffering with hair loss- I highly recommend the Capillus Cap to promote hair growth and minimize hair loss.

Can you share 3 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

The three most important things to keep in mind are how you wear and style your hair, makeup (or no makeup!), and your clothes. This will create your look — when you are comfortable with yourself and your style, anything should make you feel beautiful.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Climate change! You need fossil fuels now in the short term, like electricity and batteries or hair tools, but I believe in the next 20–30 years there will be other methods for renewable sources with how technology is getting better and better over the years.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Chase the art, and the money will follow like a shadow.” I’m still around because I believe and have a passion for the art. I always say that money is a shadow — it is the thing that follows the art — so don’t chase shadows.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this. :-)

Elon Musk — if Nikola Tesla was alive I would like to talk with him, but Elon Musk is an innovative guy doing innovating things. I’ve always been interested in space travel and technology for the future, I feel like we would have some great conversations.

How can our readers follow you online?

Warren Tricomi’s Facebook page and Instagram @warrentricomi

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspirational, and we wish you only continued success!