Vidal Sassoon with Million $ Jeans Model, Toronto, 1980
Vidal Sassoon and his Million $ Jeans Here’s Vidal with his Million $ Jeans model at the Toronto Press Event to launch his jeans and his hair care products in Canada.
This was the ultimate pair of jeans and this photo made not only the NY Post but also the NY Daily News and the United Press International Wire Service for world wide coverage, but also many papers in Canada as well as the US.
As PR director for the Vidal Sassoon Salons USA and Canada, I had spent two weeks of sleepless nights trying to come up with a newsworthy idea to launch yet another pair of jeans and one night a brainwave came. Why not have the Vidal Sassoon logo made of real diamonds and have a Pinkerton security guard standing by to protect what I called the Million $ Dollar Jeans. I had a contact with the Canadian PR for de Beers Diamonds, at Ayer Barker ABH International in Toronto, and I approached Heather. She liked the idea for De Beers, too, and had the signature made of De Beers diamonds, albeit not a Million $ worth, but I think we paid some $15,000 for the signature, which in 1981 was worth a lot more than it would be now. Yes, it was a gimmick, but a good one. I was surprised how many of the press thought they really were worth a million dollars but most knew and played along with the fun!
Jeans manufactured in Montreal by Skirt Togs for Vidal Sassoon Canada Ltd. There were hairstyle photos in the press release, but repeats of others in the Vidal Sassoon Archives so I show just some of the photos and sketches from the Canadian Launch.
Hair: Helen Chudoba, Vidal Sassoon, Toronto, 1980 …Model: Paula Turnbull, International Top Models … Photo: Unknown … Produced by Helen Oppenheim
(Photo was either United Press International or Canadian Press, but I am not 100% sure which or who took it. Will credit.)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © COPYRIGHT HELEN OPPENHEIM 2012