Sumit Israni 34, Hair Stylist and Creative Director, Geetanjali Salon
He doesn’t do ‘short cuts’. He prefers the long and flowy—lustrous tresses that he can knot his creativity into. Sumit Israni has had a many hair-raising experience in the last 13 years, but the most recent one was a challenge. A lady walked into his Geetanjali Salon with terrible Holi colours smeared on her blonde mane. It took the 34-year-old hairdresser a sweat-inducing few hours to successfully repair the damage and gain a client for a lifetime. But then that’s how he has been winning appreciation and confidence—one client at a time.
Born and brought up in Delhi, the city has become his base camp; where he finds the world’s comforts. The fact that Delhi is where a number of his salons are, makes it even more special. From a single entity in 1989, Geetanjali Salons has grown to a chain of 15 and Israni has gone from styling locals from Green Park (That’s where the first salon opened) to working with personalities like Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sonia Gandhi, Katrina Kaif, Nargis Fakhri, Shahid Kapoor and others. “My vision and thoughts as an entrepreneur are very clear and focused. That helps me move forward fast. I think a lot before any big decision and take small measured steps. If you want to be big, you’ve got to take big risks. Sometimes things will not work in your favour. Accept and move on. We started with just one salon and I had to do all the running around. Those were hard times but I never felt demotivated and today, we’re a popular chain,” says the stylist.
He may have styled a multitude of celebrities, but he loves working on hassle free, regular customers, who implicitly trust him with their hair. His intention, he says, is to always get the people of the city to do different things with their hair. “I wish they were more experimental. That would really work wonders,” he says, adding that he loves it when people take their hair seriously, and make an effort to keep it prim and proper. If you don’t, right now, it’s not too late to start.
Ponytail or bald?
Depends on one’s personality. However, a high, sleek, tight ponytail is what I like
Delhi’s sexiest woman: Priya Sachdev
No-no hairstyles: Men with a straight cut at the neck area. I like to create shape