Rose Evansky, née Rose Lerner (30 May 1922 – 21 November 2016) was a British hairdresser notable for introducing the "blow dry" or "blow wave" technique of hairstyling.

Early life

Evansky was born in

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

, Germany on 30 May 1922, to a Jewish family who were immigrants from Poland. Her father was sent to

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

in 1938, and Rose was one of the last children to be sent to Britain from Germany on the ''

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

'' trains.

Hairstyling technique

In 1962, from her salon window, Evansky noticed a barber using a powerful new hand-held dryer—together with a hairbrush—to smooth a man's hair. A little while later she was spotted trying it in her salon (on a Mrs. Hay) by

Clare Rendlesham Clare Marian Thellusson (née McCririck), Baroness Rendlesham (1919-1987), known as Clare Rendlesham, was a British fashion editor and boutique manager."Lady Rendlesham." ''The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper b ...

who set about marketing this blow-wave which worked on straight hair as well. Within a year, all the leading stylists in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, London offered it. using a hand-held

blowdryer A hair dryer, hairdryer or blow dryer is an electromechanical device that blows ambient or hot air over damp hair to speed the evaporation of water to dry the hair. Blow dryers enable better control over the shape and style of hair, by accelerat ...

on her Mayfair clients "to create a soft, natural look". She also trained the notable hairdresser,

Leonard of Mayfair Leonard Lewis (15 June 193830 November 2016), known professionally as Leonard of Mayfair, was a British hairdresser, credited with creating the haircut that launched the career of prominent 1960s model Twiggy as well as establishing the careers o ...

. This was quite a step up from her early beginnings as an apprentice working for Adolf Cohen of

Whitechapel Road Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east. ...

, known as the "professor" of the hairdressing trade, who also trained

Vidal Sassoon Vidal Sassoon (17 January 1928 – 9 May 2012) was a British hairstylist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the bob cut, worn by famous fashion designers including M ...

. After the war the couple opened their first hair salon together in 1947 in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, north London. Within six years, they were able to move up the career ladder, renting premises in North Audley Street, Mayfair. But when she moved into blowdrying, her husband accused her of "having gone mad," since they had just purchased 20 new hood dryers and he was not prepared to throw them out. A few were kept for the older clients and those who still requested high-dressed, lacquered styles. This was one element of the strain on their marriage, and they later divorced.

Personal life

In 1942 Evansky married her first husband, fellow hairdresser Albert Evansky. In 1965, Evansky married

Denis Cannan Denis Cannan (14 May 1919 – 25 September 2011Denis Cannan(obituary)
...

whom she had met through clients. Within ten years she left the hairdressing profession and moved with her husband to retire in the

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

countryside. They returned to London for a while, then retired to Hove, East Sussex. After she was noticed at the launch of a book by another 1960s hairdresser, and interviewed by radio and fashion press, she wrote a memoir in 2013, ''In Paris We Sang'' (2013). Reaching Mayfair had been an achievement. Rose's family fled antisemitism in Poland after the first world war to settle in Germany, but under Nazi rule Rose's father, Max Lerner, was sent to Dachau in 1938. He was released the following year and left for Britain, where he was joined by his wife, his son, Heinie, and Rose. She was 16 and spoke only Yiddish and German when she boarded one of the last

kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

trains to safety in the UK.

References

External links

"Rose Evansky obituary" ''The Guardian''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evansky, Rose 1922 births 2016 deaths British hairdressers Kindertransport refugees British women writers German emigrants to the United Kingdom