David Cohen is hanging up his shears after six decades as a hairdresser, though the roots of his business stretch beyond his North Bethesda salon.
Cohen opened David’s Beautiful People at 12121 Rockville Pike in 1973. Several members of his staff have been with him for more than 25 years. Others have gone on to own and operate their own salons.
“He’s a father figure to a lot of these people,” said Cheri Vaszil who is buying the salon, David’s Beautiful People.
Rockville salons New Wave, Oxygen, Adelia Varga and Kindle & Boom, Salon Red in Gaithersburg, and EYMA and Zin Hair & Colour in Bethesda were all opened by former Cohen employees. And that doesn’t include smaller shops and kiosks or a salon in Canada.
Cohen, 78, came to the area from New York in 1965, working at a salon before opening his own in Silver Spring in 1971. Haircuts were a few dollars, and color cost $12. Customers were given a menu with all of Cohen’s offerings.
“Like a restaurant,” Cohen said. “Appetizers, main courses, side dishes.”
Haircuts at David’s start at $35 now and go up to $95, depending on the stylist.
Cohen said he picked up on the new trends in London and brought them across the pond. He began participating in local, national and international shows, displaying different techniques.
He’s done shows in Budapest, Prague and Berlin, to name a few. The international hairdressing organization Intercoiffure came calling, and Cohen is a proud member.
Cohen built his empire of elite stylists, colorists and extension experts through a vigorous quest for knowledge. He’s sent employees to studios around the world to pick up new techniques, and is currently spending upwards of $80,000 on education. The salon has on-site training twice a year to keep the staff up to date.
“We enjoy the teaching, we enjoy the learning, that is the way it has to be,” Cohen said. “It keeps us on top of everything. There isn’t much that is going on that we don’t know.”
Master colorist Valerie Binda has been with Cohen since the Silver Spring salon on University Boulevard. In a week she’ll have a new boss for the first time in 49 years.
“Very easy to work for,” Binda said. “He’s always allowed us to express ourselves any which way.”
Cohen’s staff is now led by stylists Alejandro Jimenez and Enrique Lanboy.
Jimenez used to walk by David’s on trips to nearby Bagel City when he was in elementary school. He would put his face on the window and peer in at Cohen and his team hard at work. A couple decades later, still searching for a stable career, Cohen reached out with an opportunity.
“He’s been like a second dad to me,” Jimenez said. “I go to him for everything. It’s sad to see him leave but I’m just so happy to know that my story is like a piece of the pie.”
Lanboy started at David’s Beautiful People as a 16-year-old. After nine years at the salon, he’s now tasked with carefully observing and examining his techniques to eventually take over some of Cohen’s clients.
“It’s grabbing what he’s left behind and twisting it to something modern,” Lanboy said. “Everything I do is starting from what I learned from him, so just grabbing that and making it brand new but still keeping his legacy.”
Vaszil has supplied salons in the area with products for 32 years, developing a longstanding relationship with Cohen. He declined other offers and “took a hit” on the sale to sell it to her.
Vaszil has no immediate plans to change anything at David’s, focusing on gradual changes to improve the salon. She will continue the focus on education, and described competing salons as doctors who haven’t studied since college.
“They’re not up to date on everything,” Vaszil said. “This industry changes so quickly. There’s new styles, there’s new color, there’s new looks.”
Cohen will retire to his residence in Mexico. Many of his former employees plan to attend his sendoff on Saturday.
“It’s bittersweet,” Cohen said. “I’ll miss the interaction. I will miss the Enriques and the Alejandros. … The interaction that we have going, and seeing them grow, is the thing that’s kept me alive.”
