Salma Hayek’s Hair Stylist on Following Your True Passion
Robert Vetica has been in the hair industry for over 35 years. From working with Nordstrom in Seattle to Italian Vogue shoots in Milan, Vetica has seen just about every side of the industry. In 2009, he released his book, Good to Great Hair: Celebrity Hairstyling Techniques Made Simple, which serves as a step-by-step manual to the classic looks he has created for magazine covers, ad campaigns, and on the red carpet. Today, he runs the Robert Vetica Salon at the Ciel Spa inside the SLS Beverly Hills and counts Salma Hayek, Marion Cotillard, and Jessica Lange on his list of clients. Here, the veteran hair stylist talks about his career and his advice for young people today.
I started hairdressing when I was about 13 years old. I used to do the hair for my aunts and my mom in the ‘60s. It actually was not the career path I would have chose — I was going to become a concert pianist. I’m a classically trained pianist and I went to a conservatory, but I lasted about six months because my head wasn’t in it. I immediately went to beauty school near Pittsburgh, in a little town in northwestern Pennsylvania. From the minute I was in beauty school, it was the best year of my life. Once I started doing hair professionally, once I had my hands in it, I couldn’t stop. I was that person — that crazy person. I had OCD with hair. I did everything you could possibly think of.
I stayed in Pennsylvania until I was 22 and then I ended up in Seattle. I had family friends there, and I worked in a salon called the Jean Juarez salon. By 27, I got the fashion bug. This was a time when Nordstrom only had two stores and they were doing all of their shoots in Seattle. I’d be one day at a photo shoot and then four days in a salon, and before I knew it, I was only in the salon one day a week. Then I left and I took a sabbatical. I was 29 years old, and I went to Greece for five months because I needed to get away.
Vetica working on set for Italian Vogue. (Photo: Robert Vetica)
In 1984, I went to Milan. I would work six months in Milan, then go back to Seattle to make some money so I could go back and live in Milan. I did this for two or three years, and finally I got my feet wet and was able to stay there and I worked for Italian Vogue. At the time, it was just about fashion, magazines, and fashion shows. I did Ferrè, Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Franco Moschino. This was in the 1980s — it was the belle époque of fashion in Italy. I had an amazing experience.
In 1993, I decided to move back to the states. I had tried New York at one point, and it wasn’t for me, and then I came to Los Angeles. All I wanted to do was have a life; I had sort of given up on fashion. Ironically, 1994 and 1995 was when celebrity and fashion collided, and I happened to be here. I never thought about it like I wanted to be a famous hairdresser, but I remember one day in those first couple of years saying to an agent, “I’m living in Los Angeles, shouldn’t I be working with actresses?”
Salma Hayek and Robert Vetica on set. (Photo: Instagram)
I met Salma Hayek in 1994, which was just the beginning of her career with Desperado. We had sort of the same trajectory in our professional lives. I did everything with her, so I was really able to grow in the red carpet area. And at the same time I was working with Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle, and Matthew Ralston. It was just me following my passion at whatever cost it was. If I didn’t make money, it didn’t matter. If I had to move to another country, I did it fearlessly. And I would do it again. There’s always this one moment where I am like, “Wow,” and then it’s gone. That’s the moment I live for — when the woman feels amazing — and I had something to do with that.
Salma Hayek shot by Matthew Rolston, hair by Robert Vetica. (Photo: Instagram)
If I could say anything to someone young, I would say to follow your heart because you have so much of life ahead of you that there’s no need to worry about anything. You’re fearless when you’re young. If you follow your truth and your true passion, everything will be taken care of. Whatever you do, pick one thing, and know that there are going to be moments when you’re going to hate it, but that’s going to pass and you’ll fall in love with it again.
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