September 17, 2025 • 57 mins
In this episode of The BASIC Show, celebrity hairstylist and image-maker Dimitris Giannetos joins host Viktorija Pashuta to share the journey from a small village in Greece to creating iconic looks for stars like Britney Spears, Gigi Hadid, Megan Fox, and Amal Clooney.
Dimitris opens up about building a career on vision—not ego, why trust is everything, and how hair should complete—not overpower—the look. He reveals the stories behind naming trends like Tudor Waves, Almond Milk Hair, and “rich girl hair,” along with lessons from assisting Guido Palau and winning Daily Front Row Hairstylist of the Year.
You’ll hear:
💫 Why a strong vision beats ego (and how to protect it while staying collaborative)
🧠 The #1 skill every assistant needs: “Read the room”
🎯 How timeless hair completes fashion (sleek tuck + modern flip)
🌍 What a trip to Malawi taught him about gratitude beyond the red carpet
🧰 His career playbook: loyalty, availability, and working harder after success
This episode is a masterclass in artistry, resilience, and building legacy—perfect for creatives, stylists, and anyone chasing their vision.
🎙️ Hosted by Viktorija Pashuta, Editor-in-Chief of BASIC Magazine.
📍 Recorded at The Maybourne Beverly Hills.
🔗 Follow Dimitris on Instagram: @dimitrishair
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
People don't know where they want to go and they
don't have a strong vision.
Which is so true.
It has a thing that's vibe butI'm gonna make it in a more
modern way like a slick thatbehind the ears with a little
flip.
You cannot bring your strongpersonality and I have a strong
(00:23):
personality sometimes I have tomute myself.
I'm not trying to disvalue mytalent but only talent is not
enough me personally i don'thave ego but i have very strong
vision and i know what i want ialways treat all my clients like
a normal human beings becauseyes they're celebrities but i
(00:46):
drink water they drink waterlike we do the same things i've
seen these kids like they havenothing they don't even have
running water
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
They say luxury is a lifestyle.
I say it's a mindset.
And this one comes with roomservice.
Here at the Mayborg, whereEuropean charm meets California
flair, I don't just check in, Ireset.
Because real power isn't loud,it's knowing when to ghost the
(01:16):
noise and draft something farmore lasting behind the scenes.
The Mayborn Beverly Hills.
(01:41):
hello hello welcome to the basicshow
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
hello Victoria
SPEAKER_00 (01:46):
they have a very special guest I have a Dimitri
Janettos who is basic magazinecover star
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
oh my gosh can you believe my first cover in
America in the world
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
you know what actually was thinking about that
cover and I went back to thehistory of fashion magazines and
if you look back at the historyof fashion magazines before they
put models then the actressesthen the influencers and now
this is the time for the imagemakers for the people who
actually create magic for people
SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
to
SPEAKER_00 (02:17):
create fashion and are behind the superstars and
A-listers who create the imagerebrand them transform them and
this is what why I have Dimitrihere as my very special guest
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
thank you first of all for giving me the
opportunity to be in the coverto share my story because like
you're so amazing you wannabring out there like some story
and inspire young people andbecause usually we already see a
(02:49):
celebrity see a star and alreadyknow the story but like for
someone behind the scenes sharethe story is very also important
SPEAKER_00 (02:59):
and your story is specifically interesting because
I believe some of most of thethemes of basic shows the
stories of resilience and foryou coming from a really small
village in Greece all the wayacross the Atlantic and to
become you know a beauty royaltyoh my god thank you what
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
a strong title thank you my honor yeah like the whole
ride was beautiful definitelynot easy but if you have a
strong vision and as Oprah saidon an interview they asked her
why do you think people don'tsucceed in life and she said
(03:40):
people don't know where theywant to go and they don't have a
strong vision which is so truelike if you have a vision if you
have a goal like no matter whatit's not going to be easy but
always you're going to fight toachieve to reach your goal some
(04:00):
people get lost they startsomething the first like
difficult moment they're goingto be like maybe I'll try this
and then they get lost but ifyou you're not strong enough to
manage the difficult times,you're never gonna, I feel,
succeed in life.
SPEAKER_00 (04:19):
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right.
I actually remembered a visualgraphics that I saw online.
It had like a one line saying,you start here and this is the
point of your success.
And most people reach the middleand they give up.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
They give up, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:34):
Before reaching the success line, it was so, so
close.
And people like yourself, weactually tested it challenges,
right?
We're tested by obstacles thatmakes us stronger, right?
Makes us
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
stronger.
And again, there's going to bemany mistakes on your way there,
but you're going to learnthrough your mistakes.
You have to.
But you have to be open.
And what I'm always saying,don't have ego.
Because if you have ego, if youknow you think everything,
you're never going to go furtherin life.
(05:06):
You just have to be open, likelisten to people, what they're
going to share with you, whatthey come to tell you.
and advice they give you andtake it in and use it your way.
And if you're a successfulperson, a person like has proved
themselves what they haveachieved, like yes, maybe they
(05:27):
did something smart andsomething right to be where they
are.
So like I have something tolearn from them.
SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
But do you think you probably should have a little
bit of ego to achieve success?
Because if you're so humble youmay not believe in yourself and
take the risks.
SPEAKER_01 (05:45):
Me personally, I don't have ego, but I have very
strong vision and I know what Iwant, which, yeah, sometimes
this can make you seemdifficult, but to me it's not
difficult.
It's like I just know what Iwant from silly stuff.
Like, for example, like, yes,like we had an idea.
(06:09):
Maybe I wore today's silk.
shirt.
I'm happily open to try.
I came with my silica shirt, butI felt this gonna look better on
camera.
Very dapper.
SPEAKER_00 (06:21):
I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Yeah, and I was like, how about this?
I feel it looks better.
Like, some people can translateus, ah, he's been difficult, but
no, like people, I feel the mostsuccessful people in the world,
in any field, they just knowwhat they want.
And this can make them look likeunapproachable makes them look
(06:47):
difficult makes them lookdemanding but it cannot
everything be like oh this isgreat this is great this is
great like no in life and whenyou want to achieve something
things are like
SPEAKER_00 (07:03):
so when you work with celebrities speaking of
that how much of your own sayyou have let's say you do have
your vision right you know whichlook you're going for and let's
say the celebrity they'reA-listers and you know
personalities in their own righthow much confrontation do you
have to go with them to proveand protect your vision or you
(07:24):
are a team player and sayingokay if that's what you want
I'll do it but you might notnecessarily agree with it
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
yeah like at the beginning it's more delicate
when you start working with aperson because you have to earn
the trust and you have to followtheir lead.
It always depends on the person,but most of the celebrities and
people have reached a point intheir career, as I said before,
(07:54):
they know what they're doing.
They're doing something right tobe where they are in their
career.
I feel the mistake some peoplefrom my industry, from hair,
makeup, or styling, always whenthey have a new collection to
work with someone, always theywant to change them.
(08:15):
Oh, let's do somethingdifferent.
But no, you have like acelebrity which they have their
brand.
They do something right to bewhere they are.
So you start with that and thenwhen you build a relationship of
trust, you can start addingstuff from your own perspective
(08:38):
and your own taste.
So usually how I work with mypeople when I start working with
a person like I want to makethem feel comfortable being
their comfort zone and when wework together for a while like
obviously I understand bettertheir face their hair what looks
better on
SPEAKER_02 (08:57):
them
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
because let's say the trend now is the mid part
but there are people like whenyou go for first time I'm gonna
do the trend I'm gonna do themiddle part but there are people
look better on the side partlike when I'm working with Cindy
Crawford she's stunning shelooks good with everything but
(09:20):
for some reason if you flip herhair on the side she's iconic
Cindy Crawford looks amazing sothat was an example everybody
has their thing that looksbetter but if you start working
with someone and you just wantto bring the new, some people
(09:43):
are not comfortable with.
SPEAKER_00 (09:45):
Well, you brought me thinking about an interesting
topic.
Taste, you're not born with goodtaste, right?
Taste develops.
You obviously have a very goodtaste and judgment of the face
shapes, right, of thepersonality.
How did you develop your taste?
How did you grow up with, youknow, observing, you know,
(10:09):
observing the taste that youhave right now?
and creating your own vision andknowing what looks good and
what's not in your opinion I
SPEAKER_01 (10:17):
truly build my taste because growing up in a small
village in Greece I didn't growup with TikTok with Instagram
with like we couldn't afford asa family to buy a magazine a
Vogue magazine so my inspirationat the time I didn't have
internet in the 90s and was likethe people I see at school and
(10:41):
like whatever I would see was onthe Greek TV so grew up with not
really having taste and but it'ssomething you can build when I
started working at the firstfashion editorials and I was
like oh my gosh this is amazingthis looks great and I started
(11:02):
understand my style I startedlike feeling what's fashion
what's like looks good,understand patterns, understand
where something monochromatics,shapes or like come close to
(11:26):
designers, see their vision, thenew collections.
And I'm very visual person.
So for some reason, I don'tknow, when I see something, it's
the same with the hair becausethe hair is not just to see the
hair.
the hair is just to complete thelook.
So if I have to do like aregular hair, like if my, let's
(11:52):
say my aunt is going to ask meto give you a blowout, I don't
know how to do it.
Or yeah, technically I know howto do it.
It needs to be extra Dimitritouch.
Exactly, exactly.
But because I create a look andnot a look for the hair, I
always want to see like I'm...
visionary like I want to seelike oh what's the clothes
(12:16):
what's the occasion what's likeso the hair has to complete the
whole look so if I have to dosomeone's hair just because to
have a blowout for the week likeI'll do it but I'm not going to
be as inspired if I can
SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
say that so you see the full you're not egoistic
about the look being aboutyourself or the hair right you
see the full picture yeah mustfit the person, fit the face
shape and the overall fashionlook that they're wearing,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (12:46):
Exactly, exactly.
Because especially when you workwith celebrities, it's about
them.
It's not about me.
It's not about the hair Icreate.
Of course, the hair I'm going tocreate, I want the hair to look
incredible, but it's the hairgoing to complete the look.
When this person is going towalk on a red carpet, the whole
(13:09):
look has to be amazing.
It's not about the hair to stealthe show.
SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
Well, let me ask you this.
We, I feel like, live in twodifferent worlds, the celebrity
world, the glam, the red carpet.
And then we have the world ofregular women, regular people
who go to work and, you know,try to be fabulous.
And nowadays the celebrities setsuch high standard and the bar
to look incredible and to be sophotogenic.
(13:36):
But people sometimes don't knowthat it's huge teams behind this
look.
How do you feel about your inputin culture in seeing you
creating this incredible looksthat regular women may never be
able to achieve on a regular daybasis?
And they will feel kind of downbecause they will never look
like Cindy Crawford, right?
They will never look like DemiMoore.
SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
Yeah, we live in a little superficial era in the
world.
I'm not disagree at all withwhat you said, but I feel...
We live in a more open era andpeople can try different things,
what makes them feel good.
(14:18):
And we live in this era likethings are more chill.
It's not that overdone.
It has to do with hair, withclothes, with makeup.
It's good we have all thisaccess to social media and we
can see so many tutorials, somany makeup and hair, like
(14:44):
beauty industry are so like outthere so you can get inspired
and you can have freedom, dowhatever makes you happy, makes
you feel confident and becreative.
And I feel it's not thatcomplicated the looks in our
(15:06):
era.
If you think back in the 50s,back in the 60s, in the 40s.
SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
True.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
you have this beautiful we were just talking
about finger waves it's sodifficult to achieve like a
professional hair stylist gonnahustle to do that we did this
look when I was assisting GuidoPalau in Fashion Week it was the
Marc Jacobs show and we have togo through like so many days to
(15:34):
prepare ourselves and learn tonail this look so we don't live
in the air of that complicatedand overdone.
It's more simple, the looks now.
You have a cool haircut, a bob,and you can let it air dry if
the texture is like the righttexture for the bob.
(15:56):
Or you have a snatched bun or aponytail.
It's more easy to achieve for aperson who is not in the...
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
Right.
So we have a lot of toolsavailable, a lot of information.
You can experiment and find whatworks for you.
Yeah.
We
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
have access to many tools, extensions.
There is like, there is helpthere.
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
Yeah.
So speaking of extensions, Iknow you call yourself the wig
queen.
All
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
right.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
Do you have emotional attachment to hair?
Can you imagine like a wigcemetery?
Oh my
SPEAKER_01 (16:29):
gosh.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
No.
Where do the hair go in
SPEAKER_01 (16:32):
the afterlife?
I imagine a wig exhibitionbecause every wig, every look I
have done has sat That's it.
such a big meaning to me becauseI was like oh my gosh is this
pink wig when I did Megan Foxfor the premiere she went with
(16:54):
Masinga Kelly like every wig Ihave used in my career like it's
so special for me like I haveall these memories so
SPEAKER_00 (17:05):
and you know when you came to the basic cover
shoot you came with all thisamazing hair and then the inside
of the wigs I even saw thesignature and the names of very
specific celebrities.
So they have names.
Yes,
SPEAKER_01 (17:18):
from the people I work with.
And it's very special for me.
So one day, yes, I want to havemy wig museum.
SPEAKER_00 (17:25):
Hey, I'm going to be the first in line.
I'd love to see it.
So speaking of the inspiration,you've been in the hair business
for many, many years, evenbefore the social media.
And some of the hairstyliststhat I talked to, they wanted me
to ask you, what was yourinspiration before social media?
Who did you look up to?
Did you have any hair icons orhair stylists or any, you know,
(17:49):
resources that you went to andlooked up to, you know, to get
inspired before, you know,social media?
Yeah, of
SPEAKER_01 (17:56):
course.
Like before would be all themovie stars, the supermodels.
Like, again, growing up in the90s, like Cindy Crawford was the
ultimate hair queen.
How many people trying torecreate this iconic 90s silly
Crawford hair or growing up likewith Demi Moore another ultimate
(18:24):
hair inspiration and now I havethe honor to work with these
people I'm so inspired I feellike every time so humble and so
flattered they give me theopportunity to work with them
SPEAKER_00 (18:40):
Do you believe you are as good as your client are
as a professional
SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
oh my gosh they're the best like that's why they
are who they are me like Ibelieve just you have to be
loyal you have to be humble andappreciate it and don't take it
so serious like what we do I'malways saying we live the dream
(19:07):
like it's not that hard likepeople take it so serious like
And like always living a dramain like, oh, things going wrong.
Yes, it can be very stressful.
This job is very, very demandingand very like it can be
exhausting, like traveling everyday, being a different country.
(19:29):
Yeah.
To do your clients, it can beexhausting, but same time, like,
we're so blessed.
Like, we live the dream.
Like, we travel.
We're in nice hotels.
We are surrounded by beautifulpeople, like, inside and out.
So, yes, like, there are peopleout there really suffering life.
(19:54):
And we live a little in a bubblein the entertainment industry.
So, it's all about, like, oh, myGod.
gosh my hair got frizzy and likeoh
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
the end of the world
SPEAKER_01 (20:06):
poor you the end of the world I know it's like
someone's image is everythingbut if you go outside of this
bubble like that's why I loveworking with such different
people like I'm working withAmal Clooney so when we went to
Malawi in Africa it was such abig lesson for me because it
(20:28):
made me see like what's outsideof our bubble seeing these kids
like they have nothing theydon't even have running water
and they see a vehicle cross thestreet and they are so happy
smiling, applauding and they seesomeone outside of their
(20:50):
neighborhood and you're like ohlook at how happy they are with
something so simple because theydon't have anything to compare
and then we're like ah oh mygosh this and that happened and
it's the end of the world andyeah like that was a really good
(21:12):
lesson for me and realize what'sreal what really is outside our
industry
SPEAKER_00 (21:17):
yeah because our world is so close and so such a
small world everybody knowseverybody there's certain rules
you have to abide and of courseyou work with such big names in
the industry you know we justdropped a few really big names
you know from Amal Clooney andyou know Gigi Hadid and Megan
Fox so it must be something thatyou have as a person that they
(21:39):
value besides your skill rightwhen we work let's say with
celebrities they wouldn't evenwork with the different
hairstyles just because thehairstyle is as good or great
they just feel comfortable so Iguess you maybe do you develop
something more than professionalrelationship with your clients
that they trust you that much ofcourse because
SPEAKER_01 (21:57):
you spend so much time with your clients like it
becomes a family for you so youhave to earn their trust first
and respect them so they feelconfident around you and I
(22:19):
always treat all my clients likenormal human beings because yes
they're celebrities but I drinkwater they drink water like we
do the same things and I reallyreally respect and value what
they do but first of all I seethem as humans as we all are and
(22:44):
yes like people think it's justwork and talent without trying
to devalue my talent but therest is like how you treat
people how you make them feelAnd they trust you.
(23:05):
You spend so much time withthem.
And trust, I feel, is the key.
SPEAKER_00 (23:11):
Well, you have such a calm energy about you.
And you speak about these thingsso calmly and confidently.
But I bet you are 1% of thesuccessful stylists that's out
there.
So what was the pivoting momentin your career that you were,
you know, had this huge break?
Who was maybe one person or oneevent that you felt was the key?
(23:31):
that really opened the doors foryou to work with bigger names?
SPEAKER_01 (23:37):
I don't know.
It didn't happen overnight.
I'm not going to lie.
Again, I'm always saying, youhave to work so, so, so hard to
make it, to achieve things inlife, to succeed.
But once you succeed, you haveto work even harder because
(23:58):
people, they're going to tell melike, oh, you're in such a good
place in your career.
Like, why you don't take abreak?
Go vacation.
I was like, no, I want to bethere for my clients and be
available when they need me,when they have like a big moment
for them.
They want me there.
I'm going to be there.
(24:18):
So it's, It came very slowly, mycareer got built.
I started, I still rememberworking with Camila Cabello when
she was at the group and I wasso inspired.
She was a little girl, she was15.
Then I was doing Joey King andthen one brought another.
(24:40):
My first big, big client at themoment was Britney Spears, which
I grew up with Britney Spears.
So I was her biggest fan.
And I remember going to herhouse in Thousand Oaks.
I was like, am I not for realgoing to Britney Spears's
SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
house?
SPEAKER_01 (24:58):
Exactly.
I was like, so kind ofstarstruck.
And then, yeah, one broughtanother.
But I feel when I startedworking with George and Amal
Clooney, that was really the...
(25:18):
The point in my career, like Itook another
SPEAKER_02 (25:24):
turn
SPEAKER_01 (25:26):
because there are two people I admire like for so
many years and I follow theirjourney and it's always so
inspiring.
So when I received the call towork with Amal at first, I felt
so honored because I adore her.
(25:49):
And yes, they put me also in adifferent way of seeing things,
see the world.
They do such a beautiful workfor the world.
Like they help everyone.
So it's very inspiring for me.
SPEAKER_00 (26:04):
But did you have any disappointments when you admire
somebody and they're your icon,but then you see them in person?
Like, oh, I didn't expect thisperson to be that in real life.
SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
Not really.
Not really.
I'm very grateful for all Allthe people I work with, they're
so kind.
And especially the biggest starsI feel in the world.
The most humble one, right?
They're the most humble, themost secure.
They're fulfilled.
You're going to see the onestrying to reach like a success,
(26:37):
big moments in their life.
And they're a little moreinsecure and they're a little
more challenging.
But I don't know.
I have the experience and I knowhow to manage everyone.
And I'm at a point in my life,in my career, like I can keep
people around me, like makes mehappy, makes me excited to go to
(27:03):
work with them.
SPEAKER_00 (27:04):
I feel like you reached that level of wisdom
maybe because, from my opinion,the transformations you went
through yourself.
I know you mentioned in previousinterviews that you were bullied
as a kid.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
Oh my gosh, like it was not easy growing up in a...
such a small community,especially now, like before I
became hair stylist, like it washard decision to make because
all the queer community, itwasn't accepted.
(27:36):
It is still not accepted in away it's better, but not the
ideal.
It's not the normal for them,which is like in this, it sounds
to me like insane so I had tolie to my dad that I went I want
to go to a barber school tobecome to open a barber shop
(28:00):
because being a hairstylistsounds like such it's such a no
no no and yeah but I startedtherapy in such a young age
because
SPEAKER_00 (28:11):
I remember you said at 13 years old right 13 years
old
SPEAKER_01 (28:15):
because yes I went through bullying and But all
these make me stronger.
When in life, like something badis happening, I'm always trying
to come out as a winner and notthe victim because some people
(28:36):
are going to be like, oh, I wasabused when I was a kid or this,
which is like heartbreaking.
It's so hard.
But like through every difficultsituation, like I'm trying to
win.
I was like, okay, what this mademe realize or made me feel like
these people hurt me.
So to me, I was like, I did mytherapy and I was like, okay,
(29:03):
you didn't trust me or you didthat to me.
I'm going to become stronger.
I'm not going to let you lead mylife being an adult and be the
victim.
SPEAKER_00 (29:15):
Did you ever address those bullies after you
became...
either internally or in personno I think like
SPEAKER_01 (29:23):
I let my what I follow in my life and my whole
life show them like I'm strongI'm confident and I achieved
what I achieved started startingfrom zero and And I worked hard,
(29:50):
nothing was given to me.
But yeah, like that spokeitself.
SPEAKER_00 (29:56):
And I know, obviously, for some people
getting out of your, excuse me,out of your comfort zone, that's
the most difficult part becausewe get comfortable in our own
environment, right?
You went to a different country,not speaking the language.
You didn't know anybody, right?
Wasn't it true that the firsthotel you stayed was actually...
SPEAKER_01 (30:17):
Yeah.
It was a sex hotel.
I'll let you, I'll tell youbecause living in Greece, it was
not easy because I was at thepoint in my career, like I had,
I'm a Sagittarius, so I'malways, I always have goals, set
my goals.
I was like, okay, what's next?
(30:38):
And so I was at the age of 29 inGreece.
I was the ambassador for L'OrealParis.
I was doing the covers forVogue, for all the big fashion
magazines.
and I was like okay I'm 29 whatI'm gonna do for the rest of my
life keep doing the same so myfriend Yana was in New York at
the time she's a singer she'slike why you don't try here I
(31:01):
was like you know what I'll doit but because I'm always so
confident I was never I didn'tspeak English so and I didn't
realize how difficult it couldbe so I remember I went to New
York York and Ford models at thetime had Ford artists and my
(31:26):
friend Yana typed in perfectEnglish the perfect email this
is Dimitris Gianettos this is myportfolio I would like to have a
meeting with you so my portfoliowas great even though I was from
Greece like I had like reallybeautiful covers and I went
there and I remember they put mein on Fifth Avenue was a their
(31:48):
agency at the big meeting roomwhich in Greece we don't have
like exactly this like going toa big meeting like okay we're
gonna meet at Starbucks we'regonna be like okay I love your
work come work for me orwhatever
SPEAKER_00 (32:01):
start tomorrow
SPEAKER_01 (32:02):
exactly you start tomorrow it's more easy and they
put me in the meeting room andthey're like okay Dimitri we
love your work tell us aboutyourself I could say only my
name is Dimitri and then I waslike my friend And I was so
ignorant.
I was like, I told my friendYana, the singer, oh, come with
(32:24):
me at the meeting.
And who is going to a propermeeting to talk with his singer
friend?
Like it was all wrong.
It
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
was your agent?
SPEAKER_01 (32:33):
Exactly, your reps.
So Yana was there in the cornersitting and she was sweating.
She's like,
SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
oh my God.
What
SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
did I do?
And then I guess the meetingended there because I couldn't
say anything more.
Bye
SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
bye, go back to Greece.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (32:48):
but believe it or not they had asked to represent
me afterwards
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
what?
oh my goodness so two talentsspoke for itself yeah
SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
exactly it was so funny and another funny moment
because I was trying totranslate from Greek to English
but obviously the words are notthe same doesn't make the same
doesn't have the same meaningand I went to this agent in
downtown New York and beforeBefore that, I met the vice
(33:21):
president, Stephen of L'OrealParis.
And he told me at the time,because in Greece, you have to
do hair and makeup.
And he said like, hey, here,like you can do both, but you
have to choose, do one oranother if you want to be like
an A-list.
For me, it was so hard.
I was like, I'm doing my wholecareer in Greece hair and makeup
because you have to do in Greecehair and makeup.
(33:43):
So, but I started as ahairstylist and I was like,
okay, I'll go back to how Istarted.
but it was still hard for me soI'm going to this agency and
he's like so I'm confused you dohair or makeup and I was like
with my broken English I waslike I can do both but he's like
but what do you prefer I waslike I don't mind and he's like
(34:07):
but you should mind and my YanaGreek singer friend again she
was with me and she says inGreek which means say her in a
different tone so he doesn'tunderstand like she's telling me
what to say yes anyway and hewas so not having it at the time
(34:29):
and he was looking at myportfolio and these agents yeah
and he was kind of like so overthe wanted me just to kick me out
of the the office and I wastrying to translate in my head
SPEAKER_02 (34:41):
hey
SPEAKER_01 (34:42):
it's anything like concerning you and in Greece uh
we say this is problematic whichproblematic comes from the word
problem and I'm turning to him Iwas like what's your problem
I've
SPEAKER_00 (34:59):
never seen him
SPEAKER_01 (35:00):
again who
SPEAKER_00 (35:03):
is this ignorant yeah what's your
SPEAKER_01 (35:05):
problem oh lord I learned my
SPEAKER_00 (35:08):
lesson after that I bet there was like so many like
lost in translation situationsfor
SPEAKER_01 (35:13):
you
SPEAKER_00 (35:14):
I even remember you also mentioned that when you
first came here you didn't evenknow what the call shit is oh my
god yeah
SPEAKER_01 (35:22):
and then very unsuccessful trial for a few
months in New York trying tofind an agency then going back
to Greece I had to wait for myinterview for my green card and
meeting Maria Menounos so Mariawas at the time oh if you come
to LA I told her I was in NewYork trying taking
SPEAKER_00 (35:43):
important meetings
SPEAKER_01 (35:44):
exactly tell the agent what's your problem and So
I told, Maria told me, if youcome to LA, I would like to work
with you.
So she invited me to LA, but Ihad no idea.
I've never been to LA.
I was like, where should I stay?
And they told me, oh, you shouldstay in West Hollywood.
It's kind of central.
I was like, okay.
(36:05):
I was trying to find a hotel.
Everything was so expensivebecause I wanted to stay for two
weeks to get some meetings withthe new agents here.
Maybe I was like, I'm going tohave better luck.
So I arrived and I'm going, Ifound this hotel, which I didn't
know at the time in Greecebecause for two weeks everything
(36:25):
was so expensive.
I found this motel.
I didn't know motel is what'smotel.
And I went to check in andthey're like, are you going to
stay for two weeks?
I was like, excuse you.
What's your problem?
Yeah, what's your problem?
And the first night I keephearing the next room like it
(36:47):
was some auction.
I was like, oh my gosh, in LA,people are so horny.
I was like, what's going on?
Like five times in one night.
And then...
Maria was at the time, so myassistant going to send you the
call sheet.
I was like, call sheet?
I had this app on my phonetranslator translating call and
(37:11):
sheet.
It was two words.
Call was the phone.
Sheet was what you throw on thebed.
I was like, what is she going tosend me?
I was so confused.
And so in the US, probably allover the world besides Greece,
you have individual calls, calltimes.
And And in the US, you don'thave like the two dots between
(37:35):
the time.
Let's say in Europe is 5.15 inthe afternoon.
It would be like 17.15.
Here is going to be 5.15 with nodots.
So next to my call section was8.15, which was my call time.
(37:56):
And on top was saying 10 a.m.,which I thought I have to be
there 10
SPEAKER_02 (38:00):
a.m.
I
SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
thought the 815 was my extension number at this
company.
I was like, why they put thisextension call number?
I never saw it.
And then they were calling me,where are you?
And Greeks have a saying, theysay Greeks are in a Greek time,
so always late.
SPEAKER_00 (38:21):
Fashionably late.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (38:23):
exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (38:24):
And Maria was like, why I invited this guy from
Greece?
She put all her trust in youand, you know, believed you.
Exactly.
Anyway,
SPEAKER_01 (38:32):
I made her do the shoot and she's like, oh, so
where do you stay?
I was like, I stay in WestHollywood, this hotel.
She's like, where are youstaying?
She's like, this is, I think, asex hotel.
I was like, oh, that's
SPEAKER_00 (38:49):
why.
I'm glad you didn't get a knockon the door.
SPEAKER_01 (38:52):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (38:53):
At midnight.
People book the hotel for anhour, not for two weeks.
Not for two weeks.
Oh, my God.
What a story.
I mean, you went through...
you know literally starting fromthe ground zero and now you're
like almost on top of the worldyou also were awarded you know
the best hair stylist of theyear right by the daily front
SPEAKER_01 (39:11):
row awards yes it was a big honor well it was a
best hair stylist of the yearwith like uh and with other our
days was was incredible was anhonoring awards wasn't even like
um to go through nomination andwas hayley bieber after me best
innovated uh beauty brand.
(39:33):
It was Adriana Lima, it was TyraBanks.
It was like so many people fromthe industry of fashion and
beauty.
And I was so, so honored.
And my family came from Greeceand it was so, so special.
SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
That's amazing.
You know, but also sometimes Ithink great artists, when they
receive achievements like that,it kind of makes them more
relaxed and less challenging.
You know, do you feel that afterreceiving the award, you kind of
get that acknowledgement thatwill allow you to relax and sit
back and not to challengeyourself more?
SPEAKER_01 (40:05):
No, like I'm an artist, so like I feel like it
even makes it more being on yourtoes and being like, oh my gosh,
I received this award.
I have to...
Keep up
SPEAKER_00 (40:15):
to it, right?
SPEAKER_01 (40:16):
Keep up to it, yes.
I've never felt like, okay, I'mworking with this client, like
I'm set now.
No, I'm always going to bebetter and do better and learn
because I feel the trap is whenyou feel like, okay, I made it
in my career.
(40:36):
I'm working with these people.
As I said before, like, I don'thave to work so much.
No, this is gonna take you down,I feel.
SPEAKER_00 (40:46):
So speaking about learning, back in the day, the
hairstylist had to go to ParisFashion Week, you know, to hone
their skills.
Nowadays, everything, everysingle tutorial is available on
YouTube.
So what do you think about, orwhat are advice can you give to
hairstylists to increase theirexpertise to take courses or
what would you advise them to doto excel in what they do besides
(41:12):
let's say watching tutorialsonline
SPEAKER_01 (41:14):
I feel definitely you have to go to the beauty
school start from there becauseyou have to learn the actual
techniques and the basic stuffbut it's not where you really
learn hair Hair comes fromexperience for working hard in
different textures and I feelassisting a person you admire, a
(41:39):
big hair stylist, is where allthe experience and where all the
skills
SPEAKER_02 (41:45):
gonna come.
SPEAKER_01 (41:46):
Like me, even I was successful enough in Greece,
when I moved to the US, We havesuch a different culture, such a
different mentality, such adifferent approach how you see
hair.
And I felt not good enough inthe U.S.
(42:06):
market.
I felt I couldn't adapt yet theculture of hair here in fashion
SPEAKER_02 (42:19):
world.
SPEAKER_01 (42:20):
So I always admired Guido Palau.
His vision he is like create allthese trends like all this magic
and I was like you know what Iwanna go be his assistant try at
least and I was already workingby myself I had my clients and
when I told my agent at the timehe's like are you crazy you're
(42:44):
gonna go be an assistant and heopened my hair world is how I
learned to work on differenttextures on um different styles
SPEAKER_00 (42:57):
not only working on different styles you actually
created the trends one of myfavorites are the tutor waves
and the almond milk hair rightthose are like incredible so how
did you even come up with thenames how do you you're not just
following the trend you'reactually creating the trends
SPEAKER_01 (43:14):
yeah
SPEAKER_00 (43:15):
actually i
SPEAKER_01 (43:16):
blame my mom with
SPEAKER_00 (43:19):
that thanks mom
SPEAKER_01 (43:20):
when i was at the beauty school back in the villa
it's every time i would likepractice to give a haircut like
I remember the first haircut Itried was a bob it took me maybe
three hours two hours and a halfand it was never ending and so
yeah she was my model and everytime I would give her a haircut
it was another teen legged bobshe was like what's the name of
(43:45):
my haircut I want to go to youraunt Marika and tell her what
haircut you gave me I was likemom it's a bob but then I was
trying trying to come morecreative because she wanted to
have the new trend, the newhaircut.
So yeah, then all of a sudden Igave her the Prada bob and
(44:07):
sounds more exciting for her togo to.
My aunt tell her like, oh,Dimitri gave me the Prada bob.
Sounds expensive.
So every time I create a look, Isee all our friends, our beauty
editors all always the onetrying to find the headline or
the TikTok headline like richgirl hair or like you just
(44:33):
people like a story what's richgirl hair the girl lives in East
Upper East Side in Manhattangoes have her expensive blowout
but she doesn't care muchbecause she has money and she's
gonna sleep with it she's gonnamess it up so that's the rich
girl hair like the texture likea So come with a story behind
SPEAKER_00 (44:57):
it.
I love it.
I love it because it's nottechnical.
You're actually telling, youknow, creating illusion, right?
You're creating this excitingworld, which is fashion and
beauty is all about,
SPEAKER_01 (45:06):
right?
People love to live in a fairytale
SPEAKER_00 (45:10):
sometimes.
You're actually almost like abrand person, right?
You're not just a hairstylist, avisionary.
You think like big brands do.
So how important personalbranding is to you?
Do you believe in order toachieve success for
hairstylists, they need to be infront of the camera, they need
to promote themselves asambassadors and spokespeople for
different brands, or they couldstill be behind the scenes and
(45:33):
do the magic behind the scenes.
What do you believe?
SPEAKER_01 (45:35):
It's a combination, 100%.
And again, I'm not trying todisvalue my talent, but only
talent is not enough.
You have to be in charge of yoursocial media, advertise your
work, being creative, come witha Sell your ideas because not
(45:57):
only you have in your head, youhave to have the right way to
express them.
Have your client trust you andtry.
You have to put these new trendson your social media.
Know how to advertise yourselfbecause this is going to bring
(46:17):
you more work.
It's a whole operation besidesdoing good hair.
Do
SPEAKER_00 (46:25):
you feel pressured that besides being creative and
do what you love, you also haveto take care of boring things
and record videos?
A hundred percent.
But again,
SPEAKER_01 (46:35):
it's fun.
SPEAKER_00 (46:36):
It's very creative.
As long as you enjoy it, right?
As
SPEAKER_01 (46:38):
long as you enjoy.
Of course, there's a lot ofpressure.
It can be stressful.
I feel the most stressful is tokeep up because it's very easy
to get stuck in your comfortzone inside just do what's now
the three trends, like asnatched ponytail, a sleek hair
(47:01):
down, and a little messy bob.
Yes, you can keep doing andrepeating yourself, but like,
okay, what's next?
Like this holds you back, Ifeel.
Then a new hairstylist,trending, is going to come with
this idea.
And yes, everybody wants to trythe new.
We all want to try the new.
(47:22):
So again, you're have to keep upwith the trends but again don't
just follow the trends becausejust the trends can be not
timeless sometime.
SPEAKER_02 (47:38):
So
SPEAKER_01 (47:39):
for me, I always try to follow the trends with my own
twist and always keep somethingfrom another era, from another
SPEAKER_00 (47:51):
decade.
I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (47:52):
Because if you see a picture of yourself in 10, 20
years, you're going to be like,oh my God, what I was thinking.
You see now like the Y2K era,like with all this like, layers
and the side banks and thestripes in the hair the piano
(48:13):
highlights and you're like oh mygod the piano highlights is this
chunky highlights
SPEAKER_00 (48:19):
the stripes zebra highlights and you're like dear
lord
SPEAKER_01 (48:24):
so but if you think like from back in the day from
the 50s the 60s the 70s is likeso timeless this looks but you
can make them today we can makethem more modern so always
trying to keep older decades inmy work and I'm gonna do Gigi
(48:46):
Hadid the flip bob it has avintage vibe but I'm gonna make
it in a more modern way like asleek tuck behind the ears with
a little flip so it's stilltimeless but modern
SPEAKER_00 (49:04):
well that's a a perspective because you have
your own vision that you're notwilling to compromise with that
being said how would youdescribe your style like what is
Dimitri's touch like how wouldyou like maybe in a few words
describe this is your signaturestyle
SPEAKER_01 (49:22):
um I like to see women beautiful because for
example fashion is not um justto see women beautiful it's just
follow the trend is the likevery grunchy hair or like hair
(49:47):
looks like you didn't wash yourhair for two weeks and looks
messy and like which isbeautiful it fits the concept
the concept it can fit thecollection it can fit like the
page in a fashion magazine whichis the whole vibe that but when
you do a person to go on a redcarpet to go on an event or
(50:12):
whatever like I just want to seethem beautiful but not overdone
because when something is verybeautiful and very overdone it's
such a thin line to become alittle tacky always trying I'm
gonna do perfect the hair and atthe end I'm gonna make something
(50:33):
to have a mistake makes the hairalive gives the hair
personality.
Instead of just seeing theperfect hair, it becomes boring.
SPEAKER_00 (50:44):
But you are allowed to make that mistake because you
know the basics, right?
You know the skill, you know thetechnical part.
Now, when you make a mistake, itlooks natural.
If somebody without the skilltries to make it too edgy or too
editorial, as a mistake, it'sjust going to look, like you
said, distasteful, right?
Or tacky.
SPEAKER_01 (51:04):
But you have to perfect it first and then mess
it up.
Because if the base is just tostart messy, never going to look
good.
SPEAKER_00 (51:14):
So if somebody aspiring and looking up to you
and want to be your assistant onbig shoots, on big projects,
what are the qualities you wouldlook in the person to be able to
work with you?
SPEAKER_01 (51:27):
My main one, read the room.
People sometimes don't read theroom and it's really, really...
Like you have to understandwhere you are, who are you
working with, what's theirpersonality and it's the only
(51:48):
way to succeed.
Like you work with a client,they're funny, they want to make
jokes and you have to followalong.
You work with a person, justwant to be in a meditation mode,
just be quiet.
You cannot bring your strongpersonality and I have a strong
personality.
sometimes I have to mute myselfand like be quiet and like let
(52:13):
them be in their moment keep theenergy in the room the way they
want to set sometimes I'm gonnaask something from my assistant
and if we're asking let's say wehave 10 minutes to finish the
look and I'm like can you bringme the comb and if the energy is
(52:33):
like as I said in the meditationmode if my assistants try like
panicking to find the comb in mykid like they have to understand
like no have to be quiet exactlytoo much the energy
SPEAKER_00 (52:49):
I didn't expect you say that because usually say
okay the work ethics right or tobe like punctual responsible but
never heard what you said readthe room which again it's almost
next level what separatessuccessful people from not
successful people you have tolike you said read the room
understand understand and seethe bigger picture right
understand what is happeninginstead of just seeing what's
(53:12):
right in front of them rightit's very and if
SPEAKER_01 (53:14):
you're in the room like it covers everything right
if you're in the room and yousee you're like a person you
work for and i'm in a rush likei'm trying to finish the look
because they have to work towalk the carpet in 10 minutes
you have to keep up and you'relike a rhythm follows my rhythm
(53:35):
it's an understanding so
SPEAKER_00 (53:38):
you said mentioned earlier before that hard work
brought you to where you areright now can you break down for
us what does it mean hard workto you do you have any rituals
do you have any specific routinedo you just take any project
that comes your way what does itmean to hard work hard work
means
SPEAKER_01 (53:59):
be loyal and available to your clients which
it takes at all like because allthe clients moving here from
Greece I didn't know like thedemands and how much people
travel I thought okay I'm gonnamove to LA I'm gonna be in LA
SPEAKER_02 (54:21):
like
SPEAKER_01 (54:22):
I didn't know like it's not just LA like my clients
just travel all over the placethe world and when they are
loyal to you I'm gonna be loyalback yes it's it's You can be
every day on a plane, but I wantto be there for them when they
(54:42):
need me because they're alwaysgoing to give it back to me and
they're going to request me.
So, yeah, from the outside,again, it looks very fabulous
and looks very shiny.
Oh, you travel the world.
You're in today in Paris,tomorrow in London, which is
obviously it's amazing.
Like if I only knew from KiminaThessaloniki in North Greece, I
(55:05):
would do that.
I would be thrilled.
But again, for the body, it'smentally and physically very
exhausting.
SPEAKER_00 (55:12):
So, Dimitri, to wrap it up, how do you see your
legacy?
How do you want to beremembered?
There's hairstylists that gotfamous in the 90s, you know.
I have even notes like OribeCanales, who worked with Versace
show.
We have Garin, right, whocreated Linda Evangelista.
Yes, exactly.
You know, specific, you know,crop.
(55:33):
And then you have thehairstylists from the 80s like
Vidal Sassoon.
and Paul Mitchum, they had theirown product hairlines.
How do you see and which path doyou see for yourself down the
line as your legacy?
SPEAKER_01 (55:47):
Strong question.
I just want to leave areputation behind and, as I
said, work hard.
Through hard work, you canachieve everything.
I want to inspire people throughthat because there are many
(56:09):
people that are from where Istarted.
They are from small communities.
They are from nothing familiarwith what I'm doing here, but
they have a dream.
Just follow your dream.
Chase your dream and have astrong vision.
Everything is possible in life.
(56:32):
so people don't have regretslike try and if it doesn't work
it doesn't work but you try andand regarding my work I just
want to make people feel prettylook themselves in the mirror
and have a smile
SPEAKER_00 (56:49):
that's beautiful well I think on this amazing
note and having such positivewarm energy from you I have no
doubt and having a proof why youhave such loyal clients because
they see you as a friend, asmaybe part of the family.
You're really beautifulpersonality inside and out.
And I thank you for thisinterview.
(57:10):
Thank you so much.
I'm so grateful.
Thank you for this conversation.
SPEAKER_01 (57:13):
Thank you.
Thanks for my beautiful cover.
I feel so honored.
SPEAKER_00 (57:17):
I'm really happy to have you.
That's my favorite cover so far.
Oh my gosh, I'm so honored.
Thank you so much.
You
SPEAKER_01 (57:22):
created all your magic.
Thank you.
Thank
SPEAKER_00 (57:24):
you, Dimitri.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (57:32):
you
People don't know where they want to go and they
don't have a strong vision.
Which is so true.
It has a thing that's vibe butI'm gonna make it in a more
modern way like a slick thatbehind the ears with a little
flip.
You cannot bring your strongpersonality and I have a strong
(00:23):
personality sometimes I have tomute myself.
I'm not trying to disvalue mytalent but only talent is not
enough me personally i don'thave ego but i have very strong
vision and i know what i want ialways treat all my clients like
a normal human beings becauseyes they're celebrities but i
(00:46):
drink water they drink waterlike we do the same things i've
seen these kids like they havenothing they don't even have
running water
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
They say luxury is a lifestyle.
I say it's a mindset.
And this one comes with roomservice.
Here at the Mayborg, whereEuropean charm meets California
flair, I don't just check in, Ireset.
Because real power isn't loud,it's knowing when to ghost the
(01:16):
noise and draft something farmore lasting behind the scenes.
The Mayborn Beverly Hills.
(01:41):
hello hello welcome to the basicshow
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
hello Victoria
SPEAKER_00 (01:46):
they have a very special guest I have a Dimitri
Janettos who is basic magazinecover star
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
oh my gosh can you believe my first cover in
America in the world
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
you know what actually was thinking about that
cover and I went back to thehistory of fashion magazines and
if you look back at the historyof fashion magazines before they
put models then the actressesthen the influencers and now
this is the time for the imagemakers for the people who
actually create magic for people
SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
to
SPEAKER_00 (02:17):
create fashion and are behind the superstars and
A-listers who create the imagerebrand them transform them and
this is what why I have Dimitrihere as my very special guest
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
thank you first of all for giving me the
opportunity to be in the coverto share my story because like
you're so amazing you wannabring out there like some story
and inspire young people andbecause usually we already see a
(02:49):
celebrity see a star and alreadyknow the story but like for
someone behind the scenes sharethe story is very also important
SPEAKER_00 (02:59):
and your story is specifically interesting because
I believe some of most of thethemes of basic shows the
stories of resilience and foryou coming from a really small
village in Greece all the wayacross the Atlantic and to
become you know a beauty royaltyoh my god thank you what
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
a strong title thank you my honor yeah like the whole
ride was beautiful definitelynot easy but if you have a
strong vision and as Oprah saidon an interview they asked her
why do you think people don'tsucceed in life and she said
(03:40):
people don't know where theywant to go and they don't have a
strong vision which is so truelike if you have a vision if you
have a goal like no matter whatit's not going to be easy but
always you're going to fight toachieve to reach your goal some
(04:00):
people get lost they startsomething the first like
difficult moment they're goingto be like maybe I'll try this
and then they get lost but ifyou you're not strong enough to
manage the difficult times,you're never gonna, I feel,
succeed in life.
SPEAKER_00 (04:19):
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right.
I actually remembered a visualgraphics that I saw online.
It had like a one line saying,you start here and this is the
point of your success.
And most people reach the middleand they give up.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
They give up, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:34):
Before reaching the success line, it was so, so
close.
And people like yourself, weactually tested it challenges,
right?
We're tested by obstacles thatmakes us stronger, right?
Makes us
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
stronger.
And again, there's going to bemany mistakes on your way there,
but you're going to learnthrough your mistakes.
You have to.
But you have to be open.
And what I'm always saying,don't have ego.
Because if you have ego, if youknow you think everything,
you're never going to go furtherin life.
(05:06):
You just have to be open, likelisten to people, what they're
going to share with you, whatthey come to tell you.
and advice they give you andtake it in and use it your way.
And if you're a successfulperson, a person like has proved
themselves what they haveachieved, like yes, maybe they
(05:27):
did something smart andsomething right to be where they
are.
So like I have something tolearn from them.
SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
But do you think you probably should have a little
bit of ego to achieve success?
Because if you're so humble youmay not believe in yourself and
take the risks.
SPEAKER_01 (05:45):
Me personally, I don't have ego, but I have very
strong vision and I know what Iwant, which, yeah, sometimes
this can make you seemdifficult, but to me it's not
difficult.
It's like I just know what Iwant from silly stuff.
Like, for example, like, yes,like we had an idea.
(06:09):
Maybe I wore today's silk.
shirt.
I'm happily open to try.
I came with my silica shirt, butI felt this gonna look better on
camera.
Very dapper.
SPEAKER_00 (06:21):
I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Yeah, and I was like, how about this?
I feel it looks better.
Like, some people can translateus, ah, he's been difficult, but
no, like people, I feel the mostsuccessful people in the world,
in any field, they just knowwhat they want.
And this can make them look likeunapproachable makes them look
(06:47):
difficult makes them lookdemanding but it cannot
everything be like oh this isgreat this is great this is
great like no in life and whenyou want to achieve something
things are like
SPEAKER_00 (07:03):
so when you work with celebrities speaking of
that how much of your own sayyou have let's say you do have
your vision right you know whichlook you're going for and let's
say the celebrity they'reA-listers and you know
personalities in their own righthow much confrontation do you
have to go with them to proveand protect your vision or you
(07:24):
are a team player and sayingokay if that's what you want
I'll do it but you might notnecessarily agree with it
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
yeah like at the beginning it's more delicate
when you start working with aperson because you have to earn
the trust and you have to followtheir lead.
It always depends on the person,but most of the celebrities and
people have reached a point intheir career, as I said before,
(07:54):
they know what they're doing.
They're doing something right tobe where they are in their
career.
I feel the mistake some peoplefrom my industry, from hair,
makeup, or styling, always whenthey have a new collection to
work with someone, always theywant to change them.
(08:15):
Oh, let's do somethingdifferent.
But no, you have like acelebrity which they have their
brand.
They do something right to bewhere they are.
So you start with that and thenwhen you build a relationship of
trust, you can start addingstuff from your own perspective
(08:38):
and your own taste.
So usually how I work with mypeople when I start working with
a person like I want to makethem feel comfortable being
their comfort zone and when wework together for a while like
obviously I understand bettertheir face their hair what looks
better on
SPEAKER_02 (08:57):
them
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
because let's say the trend now is the mid part
but there are people like whenyou go for first time I'm gonna
do the trend I'm gonna do themiddle part but there are people
look better on the side partlike when I'm working with Cindy
Crawford she's stunning shelooks good with everything but
(09:20):
for some reason if you flip herhair on the side she's iconic
Cindy Crawford looks amazing sothat was an example everybody
has their thing that looksbetter but if you start working
with someone and you just wantto bring the new, some people
(09:43):
are not comfortable with.
SPEAKER_00 (09:45):
Well, you brought me thinking about an interesting
topic.
Taste, you're not born with goodtaste, right?
Taste develops.
You obviously have a very goodtaste and judgment of the face
shapes, right, of thepersonality.
How did you develop your taste?
How did you grow up with, youknow, observing, you know,
(10:09):
observing the taste that youhave right now?
and creating your own vision andknowing what looks good and
what's not in your opinion I
SPEAKER_01 (10:17):
truly build my taste because growing up in a small
village in Greece I didn't growup with TikTok with Instagram
with like we couldn't afford asa family to buy a magazine a
Vogue magazine so my inspirationat the time I didn't have
internet in the 90s and was likethe people I see at school and
(10:41):
like whatever I would see was onthe Greek TV so grew up with not
really having taste and but it'ssomething you can build when I
started working at the firstfashion editorials and I was
like oh my gosh this is amazingthis looks great and I started
(11:02):
understand my style I startedlike feeling what's fashion
what's like looks good,understand patterns, understand
where something monochromatics,shapes or like come close to
(11:26):
designers, see their vision, thenew collections.
And I'm very visual person.
So for some reason, I don'tknow, when I see something, it's
the same with the hair becausethe hair is not just to see the
hair.
the hair is just to complete thelook.
So if I have to do like aregular hair, like if my, let's
(11:52):
say my aunt is going to ask meto give you a blowout, I don't
know how to do it.
Or yeah, technically I know howto do it.
It needs to be extra Dimitritouch.
Exactly, exactly.
But because I create a look andnot a look for the hair, I
always want to see like I'm...
visionary like I want to seelike oh what's the clothes
(12:16):
what's the occasion what's likeso the hair has to complete the
whole look so if I have to dosomeone's hair just because to
have a blowout for the week likeI'll do it but I'm not going to
be as inspired if I can
SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
say that so you see the full you're not egoistic
about the look being aboutyourself or the hair right you
see the full picture yeah mustfit the person, fit the face
shape and the overall fashionlook that they're wearing,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (12:46):
Exactly, exactly.
Because especially when you workwith celebrities, it's about
them.
It's not about me.
It's not about the hair Icreate.
Of course, the hair I'm going tocreate, I want the hair to look
incredible, but it's the hairgoing to complete the look.
When this person is going towalk on a red carpet, the whole
(13:09):
look has to be amazing.
It's not about the hair to stealthe show.
SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
Well, let me ask you this.
We, I feel like, live in twodifferent worlds, the celebrity
world, the glam, the red carpet.
And then we have the world ofregular women, regular people
who go to work and, you know,try to be fabulous.
And nowadays the celebrities setsuch high standard and the bar
to look incredible and to be sophotogenic.
(13:36):
But people sometimes don't knowthat it's huge teams behind this
look.
How do you feel about your inputin culture in seeing you
creating this incredible looksthat regular women may never be
able to achieve on a regular daybasis?
And they will feel kind of downbecause they will never look
like Cindy Crawford, right?
They will never look like DemiMoore.
SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
Yeah, we live in a little superficial era in the
world.
I'm not disagree at all withwhat you said, but I feel...
We live in a more open era andpeople can try different things,
what makes them feel good.
(14:18):
And we live in this era likethings are more chill.
It's not that overdone.
It has to do with hair, withclothes, with makeup.
It's good we have all thisaccess to social media and we
can see so many tutorials, somany makeup and hair, like
(14:44):
beauty industry are so like outthere so you can get inspired
and you can have freedom, dowhatever makes you happy, makes
you feel confident and becreative.
And I feel it's not thatcomplicated the looks in our
(15:06):
era.
If you think back in the 50s,back in the 60s, in the 40s.
SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
True.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
you have this beautiful we were just talking
about finger waves it's sodifficult to achieve like a
professional hair stylist gonnahustle to do that we did this
look when I was assisting GuidoPalau in Fashion Week it was the
Marc Jacobs show and we have togo through like so many days to
(15:34):
prepare ourselves and learn tonail this look so we don't live
in the air of that complicatedand overdone.
It's more simple, the looks now.
You have a cool haircut, a bob,and you can let it air dry if
the texture is like the righttexture for the bob.
(15:56):
Or you have a snatched bun or aponytail.
It's more easy to achieve for aperson who is not in the...
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
Right.
So we have a lot of toolsavailable, a lot of information.
You can experiment and find whatworks for you.
Yeah.
We
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
have access to many tools, extensions.
There is like, there is helpthere.
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
Yeah.
So speaking of extensions, Iknow you call yourself the wig
queen.
All
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
right.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
Do you have emotional attachment to hair?
Can you imagine like a wigcemetery?
Oh my
SPEAKER_01 (16:29):
gosh.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
No.
Where do the hair go in
SPEAKER_01 (16:32):
the afterlife?
I imagine a wig exhibitionbecause every wig, every look I
have done has sat That's it.
such a big meaning to me becauseI was like oh my gosh is this
pink wig when I did Megan Foxfor the premiere she went with
(16:54):
Masinga Kelly like every wig Ihave used in my career like it's
so special for me like I haveall these memories so
SPEAKER_00 (17:05):
and you know when you came to the basic cover
shoot you came with all thisamazing hair and then the inside
of the wigs I even saw thesignature and the names of very
specific celebrities.
So they have names.
Yes,
SPEAKER_01 (17:18):
from the people I work with.
And it's very special for me.
So one day, yes, I want to havemy wig museum.
SPEAKER_00 (17:25):
Hey, I'm going to be the first in line.
I'd love to see it.
So speaking of the inspiration,you've been in the hair business
for many, many years, evenbefore the social media.
And some of the hairstyliststhat I talked to, they wanted me
to ask you, what was yourinspiration before social media?
Who did you look up to?
Did you have any hair icons orhair stylists or any, you know,
(17:49):
resources that you went to andlooked up to, you know, to get
inspired before, you know,social media?
Yeah, of
SPEAKER_01 (17:56):
course.
Like before would be all themovie stars, the supermodels.
Like, again, growing up in the90s, like Cindy Crawford was the
ultimate hair queen.
How many people trying torecreate this iconic 90s silly
Crawford hair or growing up likewith Demi Moore another ultimate
(18:24):
hair inspiration and now I havethe honor to work with these
people I'm so inspired I feellike every time so humble and so
flattered they give me theopportunity to work with them
SPEAKER_00 (18:40):
Do you believe you are as good as your client are
as a professional
SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
oh my gosh they're the best like that's why they
are who they are me like Ibelieve just you have to be
loyal you have to be humble andappreciate it and don't take it
so serious like what we do I'malways saying we live the dream
(19:07):
like it's not that hard likepeople take it so serious like
And like always living a dramain like, oh, things going wrong.
Yes, it can be very stressful.
This job is very, very demandingand very like it can be
exhausting, like traveling everyday, being a different country.
(19:29):
Yeah.
To do your clients, it can beexhausting, but same time, like,
we're so blessed.
Like, we live the dream.
Like, we travel.
We're in nice hotels.
We are surrounded by beautifulpeople, like, inside and out.
So, yes, like, there are peopleout there really suffering life.
(19:54):
And we live a little in a bubblein the entertainment industry.
So, it's all about, like, oh, myGod.
gosh my hair got frizzy and likeoh
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
the end of the world
SPEAKER_01 (20:06):
poor you the end of the world I know it's like
someone's image is everythingbut if you go outside of this
bubble like that's why I loveworking with such different
people like I'm working withAmal Clooney so when we went to
Malawi in Africa it was such abig lesson for me because it
(20:28):
made me see like what's outsideof our bubble seeing these kids
like they have nothing theydon't even have running water
and they see a vehicle cross thestreet and they are so happy
smiling, applauding and they seesomeone outside of their
(20:50):
neighborhood and you're like ohlook at how happy they are with
something so simple because theydon't have anything to compare
and then we're like ah oh mygosh this and that happened and
it's the end of the world andyeah like that was a really good
(21:12):
lesson for me and realize what'sreal what really is outside our
industry
SPEAKER_00 (21:17):
yeah because our world is so close and so such a
small world everybody knowseverybody there's certain rules
you have to abide and of courseyou work with such big names in
the industry you know we justdropped a few really big names
you know from Amal Clooney andyou know Gigi Hadid and Megan
Fox so it must be something thatyou have as a person that they
(21:39):
value besides your skill rightwhen we work let's say with
celebrities they wouldn't evenwork with the different
hairstyles just because thehairstyle is as good or great
they just feel comfortable so Iguess you maybe do you develop
something more than professionalrelationship with your clients
that they trust you that much ofcourse because
SPEAKER_01 (21:57):
you spend so much time with your clients like it
becomes a family for you so youhave to earn their trust first
and respect them so they feelconfident around you and I
(22:19):
always treat all my clients likenormal human beings because yes
they're celebrities but I drinkwater they drink water like we
do the same things and I reallyreally respect and value what
they do but first of all I seethem as humans as we all are and
(22:44):
yes like people think it's justwork and talent without trying
to devalue my talent but therest is like how you treat
people how you make them feelAnd they trust you.
(23:05):
You spend so much time withthem.
And trust, I feel, is the key.
SPEAKER_00 (23:11):
Well, you have such a calm energy about you.
And you speak about these thingsso calmly and confidently.
But I bet you are 1% of thesuccessful stylists that's out
there.
So what was the pivoting momentin your career that you were,
you know, had this huge break?
Who was maybe one person or oneevent that you felt was the key?
(23:31):
that really opened the doors foryou to work with bigger names?
SPEAKER_01 (23:37):
I don't know.
It didn't happen overnight.
I'm not going to lie.
Again, I'm always saying, youhave to work so, so, so hard to
make it, to achieve things inlife, to succeed.
But once you succeed, you haveto work even harder because
(23:58):
people, they're going to tell melike, oh, you're in such a good
place in your career.
Like, why you don't take abreak?
Go vacation.
I was like, no, I want to bethere for my clients and be
available when they need me,when they have like a big moment
for them.
They want me there.
I'm going to be there.
(24:18):
So it's, It came very slowly, mycareer got built.
I started, I still rememberworking with Camila Cabello when
she was at the group and I wasso inspired.
She was a little girl, she was15.
Then I was doing Joey King andthen one brought another.
(24:40):
My first big, big client at themoment was Britney Spears, which
I grew up with Britney Spears.
So I was her biggest fan.
And I remember going to herhouse in Thousand Oaks.
I was like, am I not for realgoing to Britney Spears's
SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
house?
SPEAKER_01 (24:58):
Exactly.
I was like, so kind ofstarstruck.
And then, yeah, one broughtanother.
But I feel when I startedworking with George and Amal
Clooney, that was really the...
(25:18):
The point in my career, like Itook another
SPEAKER_02 (25:24):
turn
SPEAKER_01 (25:26):
because there are two people I admire like for so
many years and I follow theirjourney and it's always so
inspiring.
So when I received the call towork with Amal at first, I felt
so honored because I adore her.
(25:49):
And yes, they put me also in adifferent way of seeing things,
see the world.
They do such a beautiful workfor the world.
Like they help everyone.
So it's very inspiring for me.
SPEAKER_00 (26:04):
But did you have any disappointments when you admire
somebody and they're your icon,but then you see them in person?
Like, oh, I didn't expect thisperson to be that in real life.
SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
Not really.
Not really.
I'm very grateful for all Allthe people I work with, they're
so kind.
And especially the biggest starsI feel in the world.
The most humble one, right?
They're the most humble, themost secure.
They're fulfilled.
You're going to see the onestrying to reach like a success,
(26:37):
big moments in their life.
And they're a little moreinsecure and they're a little
more challenging.
But I don't know.
I have the experience and I knowhow to manage everyone.
And I'm at a point in my life,in my career, like I can keep
people around me, like makes mehappy, makes me excited to go to
(27:03):
work with them.
SPEAKER_00 (27:04):
I feel like you reached that level of wisdom
maybe because, from my opinion,the transformations you went
through yourself.
I know you mentioned in previousinterviews that you were bullied
as a kid.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
Oh my gosh, like it was not easy growing up in a...
such a small community,especially now, like before I
became hair stylist, like it washard decision to make because
all the queer community, itwasn't accepted.
(27:36):
It is still not accepted in away it's better, but not the
ideal.
It's not the normal for them,which is like in this, it sounds
to me like insane so I had tolie to my dad that I went I want
to go to a barber school tobecome to open a barber shop
(28:00):
because being a hairstylistsounds like such it's such a no
no no and yeah but I startedtherapy in such a young age
because
SPEAKER_00 (28:11):
I remember you said at 13 years old right 13 years
old
SPEAKER_01 (28:15):
because yes I went through bullying and But all
these make me stronger.
When in life, like something badis happening, I'm always trying
to come out as a winner and notthe victim because some people
(28:36):
are going to be like, oh, I wasabused when I was a kid or this,
which is like heartbreaking.
It's so hard.
But like through every difficultsituation, like I'm trying to
win.
I was like, okay, what this mademe realize or made me feel like
these people hurt me.
So to me, I was like, I did mytherapy and I was like, okay,
(29:03):
you didn't trust me or you didthat to me.
I'm going to become stronger.
I'm not going to let you lead mylife being an adult and be the
victim.
SPEAKER_00 (29:15):
Did you ever address those bullies after you
became...
either internally or in personno I think like
SPEAKER_01 (29:23):
I let my what I follow in my life and my whole
life show them like I'm strongI'm confident and I achieved
what I achieved started startingfrom zero and And I worked hard,
(29:50):
nothing was given to me.
But yeah, like that spokeitself.
SPEAKER_00 (29:56):
And I know, obviously, for some people
getting out of your, excuse me,out of your comfort zone, that's
the most difficult part becausewe get comfortable in our own
environment, right?
You went to a different country,not speaking the language.
You didn't know anybody, right?
Wasn't it true that the firsthotel you stayed was actually...
SPEAKER_01 (30:17):
Yeah.
It was a sex hotel.
I'll let you, I'll tell youbecause living in Greece, it was
not easy because I was at thepoint in my career, like I had,
I'm a Sagittarius, so I'malways, I always have goals, set
my goals.
I was like, okay, what's next?
(30:38):
And so I was at the age of 29 inGreece.
I was the ambassador for L'OrealParis.
I was doing the covers forVogue, for all the big fashion
magazines.
and I was like okay I'm 29 whatI'm gonna do for the rest of my
life keep doing the same so myfriend Yana was in New York at
the time she's a singer she'slike why you don't try here I
(31:01):
was like you know what I'll doit but because I'm always so
confident I was never I didn'tspeak English so and I didn't
realize how difficult it couldbe so I remember I went to New
York York and Ford models at thetime had Ford artists and my
(31:26):
friend Yana typed in perfectEnglish the perfect email this
is Dimitris Gianettos this is myportfolio I would like to have a
meeting with you so my portfoliowas great even though I was from
Greece like I had like reallybeautiful covers and I went
there and I remember they put mein on Fifth Avenue was a their
(31:48):
agency at the big meeting roomwhich in Greece we don't have
like exactly this like going toa big meeting like okay we're
gonna meet at Starbucks we'regonna be like okay I love your
work come work for me orwhatever
SPEAKER_00 (32:01):
start tomorrow
SPEAKER_01 (32:02):
exactly you start tomorrow it's more easy and they
put me in the meeting room andthey're like okay Dimitri we
love your work tell us aboutyourself I could say only my
name is Dimitri and then I waslike my friend And I was so
ignorant.
I was like, I told my friendYana, the singer, oh, come with
(32:24):
me at the meeting.
And who is going to a propermeeting to talk with his singer
friend?
Like it was all wrong.
It
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
was your agent?
SPEAKER_01 (32:33):
Exactly, your reps.
So Yana was there in the cornersitting and she was sweating.
She's like,
SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
oh my God.
What
SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
did I do?
And then I guess the meetingended there because I couldn't
say anything more.
Bye
SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
bye, go back to Greece.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (32:48):
but believe it or not they had asked to represent
me afterwards
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
what?
oh my goodness so two talentsspoke for itself yeah
SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
exactly it was so funny and another funny moment
because I was trying totranslate from Greek to English
but obviously the words are notthe same doesn't make the same
doesn't have the same meaningand I went to this agent in
downtown New York and beforeBefore that, I met the vice
(33:21):
president, Stephen of L'OrealParis.
And he told me at the time,because in Greece, you have to
do hair and makeup.
And he said like, hey, here,like you can do both, but you
have to choose, do one oranother if you want to be like
an A-list.
For me, it was so hard.
I was like, I'm doing my wholecareer in Greece hair and makeup
because you have to do in Greecehair and makeup.
(33:43):
So, but I started as ahairstylist and I was like,
okay, I'll go back to how Istarted.
but it was still hard for me soI'm going to this agency and
he's like so I'm confused you dohair or makeup and I was like
with my broken English I waslike I can do both but he's like
but what do you prefer I waslike I don't mind and he's like
(34:07):
but you should mind and my YanaGreek singer friend again she
was with me and she says inGreek which means say her in a
different tone so he doesn'tunderstand like she's telling me
what to say yes anyway and hewas so not having it at the time
(34:29):
and he was looking at myportfolio and these agents yeah
and he was kind of like so overthe wanted me just to kick me out
of the the office and I wastrying to translate in my head
SPEAKER_02 (34:41):
hey
SPEAKER_01 (34:42):
it's anything like concerning you and in Greece uh
we say this is problematic whichproblematic comes from the word
problem and I'm turning to him Iwas like what's your problem
I've
SPEAKER_00 (34:59):
never seen him
SPEAKER_01 (35:00):
again who
SPEAKER_00 (35:03):
is this ignorant yeah what's your
SPEAKER_01 (35:05):
problem oh lord I learned my
SPEAKER_00 (35:08):
lesson after that I bet there was like so many like
lost in translation situationsfor
SPEAKER_01 (35:13):
you
SPEAKER_00 (35:14):
I even remember you also mentioned that when you
first came here you didn't evenknow what the call shit is oh my
god yeah
SPEAKER_01 (35:22):
and then very unsuccessful trial for a few
months in New York trying tofind an agency then going back
to Greece I had to wait for myinterview for my green card and
meeting Maria Menounos so Mariawas at the time oh if you come
to LA I told her I was in NewYork trying taking
SPEAKER_00 (35:43):
important meetings
SPEAKER_01 (35:44):
exactly tell the agent what's your problem and So
I told, Maria told me, if youcome to LA, I would like to work
with you.
So she invited me to LA, but Ihad no idea.
I've never been to LA.
I was like, where should I stay?
And they told me, oh, you shouldstay in West Hollywood.
It's kind of central.
I was like, okay.
(36:05):
I was trying to find a hotel.
Everything was so expensivebecause I wanted to stay for two
weeks to get some meetings withthe new agents here.
Maybe I was like, I'm going tohave better luck.
So I arrived and I'm going, Ifound this hotel, which I didn't
know at the time in Greecebecause for two weeks everything
(36:25):
was so expensive.
I found this motel.
I didn't know motel is what'smotel.
And I went to check in andthey're like, are you going to
stay for two weeks?
I was like, excuse you.
What's your problem?
Yeah, what's your problem?
And the first night I keephearing the next room like it
(36:47):
was some auction.
I was like, oh my gosh, in LA,people are so horny.
I was like, what's going on?
Like five times in one night.
And then...
Maria was at the time, so myassistant going to send you the
call sheet.
I was like, call sheet?
I had this app on my phonetranslator translating call and
(37:11):
sheet.
It was two words.
Call was the phone.
Sheet was what you throw on thebed.
I was like, what is she going tosend me?
I was so confused.
And so in the US, probably allover the world besides Greece,
you have individual calls, calltimes.
And And in the US, you don'thave like the two dots between
(37:35):
the time.
Let's say in Europe is 5.15 inthe afternoon.
It would be like 17.15.
Here is going to be 5.15 with nodots.
So next to my call section was8.15, which was my call time.
(37:56):
And on top was saying 10 a.m.,which I thought I have to be
there 10
SPEAKER_02 (38:00):
a.m.
I
SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
thought the 815 was my extension number at this
company.
I was like, why they put thisextension call number?
I never saw it.
And then they were calling me,where are you?
And Greeks have a saying, theysay Greeks are in a Greek time,
so always late.
SPEAKER_00 (38:21):
Fashionably late.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (38:23):
exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (38:24):
And Maria was like, why I invited this guy from
Greece?
She put all her trust in youand, you know, believed you.
Exactly.
Anyway,
SPEAKER_01 (38:32):
I made her do the shoot and she's like, oh, so
where do you stay?
I was like, I stay in WestHollywood, this hotel.
She's like, where are youstaying?
She's like, this is, I think, asex hotel.
I was like, oh, that's
SPEAKER_00 (38:49):
why.
I'm glad you didn't get a knockon the door.
SPEAKER_01 (38:52):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (38:53):
At midnight.
People book the hotel for anhour, not for two weeks.
Not for two weeks.
Oh, my God.
What a story.
I mean, you went through...
you know literally starting fromthe ground zero and now you're
like almost on top of the worldyou also were awarded you know
the best hair stylist of theyear right by the daily front
SPEAKER_01 (39:11):
row awards yes it was a big honor well it was a
best hair stylist of the yearwith like uh and with other our
days was was incredible was anhonoring awards wasn't even like
um to go through nomination andwas hayley bieber after me best
innovated uh beauty brand.
(39:33):
It was Adriana Lima, it was TyraBanks.
It was like so many people fromthe industry of fashion and
beauty.
And I was so, so honored.
And my family came from Greeceand it was so, so special.
SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
That's amazing.
You know, but also sometimes Ithink great artists, when they
receive achievements like that,it kind of makes them more
relaxed and less challenging.
You know, do you feel that afterreceiving the award, you kind of
get that acknowledgement thatwill allow you to relax and sit
back and not to challengeyourself more?
SPEAKER_01 (40:05):
No, like I'm an artist, so like I feel like it
even makes it more being on yourtoes and being like, oh my gosh,
I received this award.
I have to...
Keep up
SPEAKER_00 (40:15):
to it, right?
SPEAKER_01 (40:16):
Keep up to it, yes.
I've never felt like, okay, I'mworking with this client, like
I'm set now.
No, I'm always going to bebetter and do better and learn
because I feel the trap is whenyou feel like, okay, I made it
in my career.
(40:36):
I'm working with these people.
As I said before, like, I don'thave to work so much.
No, this is gonna take you down,I feel.
SPEAKER_00 (40:46):
So speaking about learning, back in the day, the
hairstylist had to go to ParisFashion Week, you know, to hone
their skills.
Nowadays, everything, everysingle tutorial is available on
YouTube.
So what do you think about, orwhat are advice can you give to
hairstylists to increase theirexpertise to take courses or
what would you advise them to doto excel in what they do besides
(41:12):
let's say watching tutorialsonline
SPEAKER_01 (41:14):
I feel definitely you have to go to the beauty
school start from there becauseyou have to learn the actual
techniques and the basic stuffbut it's not where you really
learn hair Hair comes fromexperience for working hard in
different textures and I feelassisting a person you admire, a
(41:39):
big hair stylist, is where allthe experience and where all the
skills
SPEAKER_02 (41:45):
gonna come.
SPEAKER_01 (41:46):
Like me, even I was successful enough in Greece,
when I moved to the US, We havesuch a different culture, such a
different mentality, such adifferent approach how you see
hair.
And I felt not good enough inthe U.S.
(42:06):
market.
I felt I couldn't adapt yet theculture of hair here in fashion
SPEAKER_02 (42:19):
world.
SPEAKER_01 (42:20):
So I always admired Guido Palau.
His vision he is like create allthese trends like all this magic
and I was like you know what Iwanna go be his assistant try at
least and I was already workingby myself I had my clients and
when I told my agent at the timehe's like are you crazy you're
(42:44):
gonna go be an assistant and heopened my hair world is how I
learned to work on differenttextures on um different styles
SPEAKER_00 (42:57):
not only working on different styles you actually
created the trends one of myfavorites are the tutor waves
and the almond milk hair rightthose are like incredible so how
did you even come up with thenames how do you you're not just
following the trend you'reactually creating the trends
SPEAKER_01 (43:14):
yeah
SPEAKER_00 (43:15):
actually i
SPEAKER_01 (43:16):
blame my mom with
SPEAKER_00 (43:19):
that thanks mom
SPEAKER_01 (43:20):
when i was at the beauty school back in the villa
it's every time i would likepractice to give a haircut like
I remember the first haircut Itried was a bob it took me maybe
three hours two hours and a halfand it was never ending and so
yeah she was my model and everytime I would give her a haircut
it was another teen legged bobshe was like what's the name of
(43:45):
my haircut I want to go to youraunt Marika and tell her what
haircut you gave me I was likemom it's a bob but then I was
trying trying to come morecreative because she wanted to
have the new trend, the newhaircut.
So yeah, then all of a sudden Igave her the Prada bob and
(44:07):
sounds more exciting for her togo to.
My aunt tell her like, oh,Dimitri gave me the Prada bob.
Sounds expensive.
So every time I create a look, Isee all our friends, our beauty
editors all always the onetrying to find the headline or
the TikTok headline like richgirl hair or like you just
(44:33):
people like a story what's richgirl hair the girl lives in East
Upper East Side in Manhattangoes have her expensive blowout
but she doesn't care muchbecause she has money and she's
gonna sleep with it she's gonnamess it up so that's the rich
girl hair like the texture likea So come with a story behind
SPEAKER_00 (44:57):
it.
I love it.
I love it because it's nottechnical.
You're actually telling, youknow, creating illusion, right?
You're creating this excitingworld, which is fashion and
beauty is all about,
SPEAKER_01 (45:06):
right?
People love to live in a fairytale
SPEAKER_00 (45:10):
sometimes.
You're actually almost like abrand person, right?
You're not just a hairstylist, avisionary.
You think like big brands do.
So how important personalbranding is to you?
Do you believe in order toachieve success for
hairstylists, they need to be infront of the camera, they need
to promote themselves asambassadors and spokespeople for
different brands, or they couldstill be behind the scenes and
(45:33):
do the magic behind the scenes.
What do you believe?
SPEAKER_01 (45:35):
It's a combination, 100%.
And again, I'm not trying todisvalue my talent, but only
talent is not enough.
You have to be in charge of yoursocial media, advertise your
work, being creative, come witha Sell your ideas because not
(45:57):
only you have in your head, youhave to have the right way to
express them.
Have your client trust you andtry.
You have to put these new trendson your social media.
Know how to advertise yourselfbecause this is going to bring
(46:17):
you more work.
It's a whole operation besidesdoing good hair.
Do
SPEAKER_00 (46:25):
you feel pressured that besides being creative and
do what you love, you also haveto take care of boring things
and record videos?
A hundred percent.
But again,
SPEAKER_01 (46:35):
it's fun.
SPEAKER_00 (46:36):
It's very creative.
As long as you enjoy it, right?
As
SPEAKER_01 (46:38):
long as you enjoy.
Of course, there's a lot ofpressure.
It can be stressful.
I feel the most stressful is tokeep up because it's very easy
to get stuck in your comfortzone inside just do what's now
the three trends, like asnatched ponytail, a sleek hair
(47:01):
down, and a little messy bob.
Yes, you can keep doing andrepeating yourself, but like,
okay, what's next?
Like this holds you back, Ifeel.
Then a new hairstylist,trending, is going to come with
this idea.
And yes, everybody wants to trythe new.
We all want to try the new.
(47:22):
So again, you're have to keep upwith the trends but again don't
just follow the trends becausejust the trends can be not
timeless sometime.
SPEAKER_02 (47:38):
So
SPEAKER_01 (47:39):
for me, I always try to follow the trends with my own
twist and always keep somethingfrom another era, from another
SPEAKER_00 (47:51):
decade.
I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (47:52):
Because if you see a picture of yourself in 10, 20
years, you're going to be like,oh my God, what I was thinking.
You see now like the Y2K era,like with all this like, layers
and the side banks and thestripes in the hair the piano
(48:13):
highlights and you're like oh mygod the piano highlights is this
chunky highlights
SPEAKER_00 (48:19):
the stripes zebra highlights and you're like dear
lord
SPEAKER_01 (48:24):
so but if you think like from back in the day from
the 50s the 60s the 70s is likeso timeless this looks but you
can make them today we can makethem more modern so always
trying to keep older decades inmy work and I'm gonna do Gigi
(48:46):
Hadid the flip bob it has avintage vibe but I'm gonna make
it in a more modern way like asleek tuck behind the ears with
a little flip so it's stilltimeless but modern
SPEAKER_00 (49:04):
well that's a a perspective because you have
your own vision that you're notwilling to compromise with that
being said how would youdescribe your style like what is
Dimitri's touch like how wouldyou like maybe in a few words
describe this is your signaturestyle
SPEAKER_01 (49:22):
um I like to see women beautiful because for
example fashion is not um justto see women beautiful it's just
follow the trend is the likevery grunchy hair or like hair
(49:47):
looks like you didn't wash yourhair for two weeks and looks
messy and like which isbeautiful it fits the concept
the concept it can fit thecollection it can fit like the
page in a fashion magazine whichis the whole vibe that but when
you do a person to go on a redcarpet to go on an event or
(50:12):
whatever like I just want to seethem beautiful but not overdone
because when something is verybeautiful and very overdone it's
such a thin line to become alittle tacky always trying I'm
gonna do perfect the hair and atthe end I'm gonna make something
(50:33):
to have a mistake makes the hairalive gives the hair
personality.
Instead of just seeing theperfect hair, it becomes boring.
SPEAKER_00 (50:44):
But you are allowed to make that mistake because you
know the basics, right?
You know the skill, you know thetechnical part.
Now, when you make a mistake, itlooks natural.
If somebody without the skilltries to make it too edgy or too
editorial, as a mistake, it'sjust going to look, like you
said, distasteful, right?
Or tacky.
SPEAKER_01 (51:04):
But you have to perfect it first and then mess
it up.
Because if the base is just tostart messy, never going to look
good.
SPEAKER_00 (51:14):
So if somebody aspiring and looking up to you
and want to be your assistant onbig shoots, on big projects,
what are the qualities you wouldlook in the person to be able to
work with you?
SPEAKER_01 (51:27):
My main one, read the room.
People sometimes don't read theroom and it's really, really...
Like you have to understandwhere you are, who are you
working with, what's theirpersonality and it's the only
(51:48):
way to succeed.
Like you work with a client,they're funny, they want to make
jokes and you have to followalong.
You work with a person, justwant to be in a meditation mode,
just be quiet.
You cannot bring your strongpersonality and I have a strong
personality.
sometimes I have to mute myselfand like be quiet and like let
(52:13):
them be in their moment keep theenergy in the room the way they
want to set sometimes I'm gonnaask something from my assistant
and if we're asking let's say wehave 10 minutes to finish the
look and I'm like can you bringme the comb and if the energy is
(52:33):
like as I said in the meditationmode if my assistants try like
panicking to find the comb in mykid like they have to understand
like no have to be quiet exactlytoo much the energy
SPEAKER_00 (52:49):
I didn't expect you say that because usually say
okay the work ethics right or tobe like punctual responsible but
never heard what you said readthe room which again it's almost
next level what separatessuccessful people from not
successful people you have tolike you said read the room
understand understand and seethe bigger picture right
understand what is happeninginstead of just seeing what's
(53:12):
right in front of them rightit's very and if
SPEAKER_01 (53:14):
you're in the room like it covers everything right
if you're in the room and yousee you're like a person you
work for and i'm in a rush likei'm trying to finish the look
because they have to work towalk the carpet in 10 minutes
you have to keep up and you'relike a rhythm follows my rhythm
(53:35):
it's an understanding so
SPEAKER_00 (53:38):
you said mentioned earlier before that hard work
brought you to where you areright now can you break down for
us what does it mean hard workto you do you have any rituals
do you have any specific routinedo you just take any project
that comes your way what does itmean to hard work hard work
means
SPEAKER_01 (53:59):
be loyal and available to your clients which
it takes at all like because allthe clients moving here from
Greece I didn't know like thedemands and how much people
travel I thought okay I'm gonnamove to LA I'm gonna be in LA
SPEAKER_02 (54:21):
like
SPEAKER_01 (54:22):
I didn't know like it's not just LA like my clients
just travel all over the placethe world and when they are
loyal to you I'm gonna be loyalback yes it's it's You can be
every day on a plane, but I wantto be there for them when they
(54:42):
need me because they're alwaysgoing to give it back to me and
they're going to request me.
So, yeah, from the outside,again, it looks very fabulous
and looks very shiny.
Oh, you travel the world.
You're in today in Paris,tomorrow in London, which is
obviously it's amazing.
Like if I only knew from KiminaThessaloniki in North Greece, I
(55:05):
would do that.
I would be thrilled.
But again, for the body, it'smentally and physically very
exhausting.
SPEAKER_00 (55:12):
So, Dimitri, to wrap it up, how do you see your
legacy?
How do you want to beremembered?
There's hairstylists that gotfamous in the 90s, you know.
I have even notes like OribeCanales, who worked with Versace
show.
We have Garin, right, whocreated Linda Evangelista.
Yes, exactly.
You know, specific, you know,crop.
(55:33):
And then you have thehairstylists from the 80s like
Vidal Sassoon.
and Paul Mitchum, they had theirown product hairlines.
How do you see and which path doyou see for yourself down the
line as your legacy?
SPEAKER_01 (55:47):
Strong question.
I just want to leave areputation behind and, as I
said, work hard.
Through hard work, you canachieve everything.
I want to inspire people throughthat because there are many
(56:09):
people that are from where Istarted.
They are from small communities.
They are from nothing familiarwith what I'm doing here, but
they have a dream.
Just follow your dream.
Chase your dream and have astrong vision.
Everything is possible in life.
(56:32):
so people don't have regretslike try and if it doesn't work
it doesn't work but you try andand regarding my work I just
want to make people feel prettylook themselves in the mirror
and have a smile
SPEAKER_00 (56:49):
that's beautiful well I think on this amazing
note and having such positivewarm energy from you I have no
doubt and having a proof why youhave such loyal clients because
they see you as a friend, asmaybe part of the family.
You're really beautifulpersonality inside and out.
And I thank you for thisinterview.
(57:10):
Thank you so much.
I'm so grateful.
Thank you for this conversation.
SPEAKER_01 (57:13):
Thank you.
Thanks for my beautiful cover.
I feel so honored.
SPEAKER_00 (57:17):
I'm really happy to have you.
That's my favorite cover so far.
Oh my gosh, I'm so honored.
Thank you so much.
You
SPEAKER_01 (57:22):
created all your magic.
Thank you.
Thank
SPEAKER_00 (57:24):
you, Dimitri.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (57:32):
you
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