From studying law to cruising around America, to two salons and his celebrity clientele, Gustav Fouche tells his journey...
“Listen, having your own salon is the best and the worst thing you can ever do,” Gustav Fouche tells us, as we chat on the phone. But owning his own salon or beginning a career in hairdressing for that matter, wasn’t always the plan.
Gustav's career started with studying law in South Africa but, needing extra money, he decided to work in his friend’s salon. With an agreement with his boss to take the time off he needed to study for law, Gustav worked in the salon for around two years, attending hairdressing college once a week. “I was sweeping the floors and shampooing, and that’s how it started, in South Africa.”
After six months, Gustav began to look after his own clients. “I was very hungry to learn and evolve and I eventually stopped studying law, as I just loved hairdressing. I loved the people, the transformations, the impact I could see I had on clients,” he shares. “But back in those days, I had to really search for my education – I took the bus at 5am to see my first model at 6:30am because I had to be finished by 8am to start work. I wasn’t allowed to train during work hours.”
Soon after, Gustav began working on cruise ships in America. “I did all the East Coast, Canada, The Bahamas, Caribbean and I did that for two contracts,” he says. From there, Gustav spent 10 months in New York before making his way back to South Africa. “I worked for two years before I set up my own salon. I did very well but I realised that to become a big player, you need to be on a world stage and South Africa just didn’t offer that.”
So, Gustav started training with Sassoon in the UK. After three years, Gustav moved to London, working in a salon for eight years before opening Gustav Fouche six years ago. “The idea of opening up a salon is very different to what it is in reality,” he tells us. “It’s very challenging, but it’s rewarding. It’s a double-edged sword.” Something that made it more challenging was opening the salon in October 2019, just before Covid hit. “We obviously didn’t know what was coming; it was intense. We had no support from the government.”
But it wasn’t just Covid that Gustav found challenging. “I like to think of myself as a switched-on hairstylist but when I opened my salon, I realised I was fast asleep,” he shares. “I had no downtime. For the first three years, I didn’t get paid a penny. I work seven days a week, I go home and it’s emails, admin... If there’s a problem, it’s your problem. But it's amazing.”
Now though, with two salons (in Westbourne Grove and Weybridge) and a whole product range, it’s something Gustav is extremely proud of. “We launched our shampoo and conditioner in 2023, and we’ve just launched our ‘Fab Brush’.”
Something Gustav doesn’t shout out much about though, is his celebrity work. From Kate Hudson to LeAnn Rimes, Gustav has worked with a fair few A-List stars. “I find with celebrity work, again, it's a blessing and a curse,” he shares. “I’ve never actually gone out to search for it, because it’s very last minute. I know celebrity work is fun, but I love my clients. I love being in the salon.”
What’s next? A couple of new products are in the pipeline along with an online education platform launching next year. For someone who never planned to get into hairdressing, Gustav sure has proved his case!
