Some of the best-known personalities in contemporary history have passed through the hands of Lluís Llongueras (Esparraguera, 1936). Characters as diverse as Isabel Preysler, Doña Sofía, Bianca Jagger and even the iconic artist born in Figueres, Salvador Dalí.
Turned into a highly versatile media star, the sad news of his unexpected death this Monday, May 29 at his home in Barcelona, at the age of 87, has shaken the fashion and arts industry.
Born in Esparraguera, in Barcelona, his personality and multidisciplinary character earned him a recognized position in the star system. Although for some his name only relates him to the famous Llongueras chain, his hairdressers were only a small glimpse of everything that made up the great creative universe of the hairdresser.
It was the year 1958 when, at the age of 22, Llongueras gave his great professional boost with the opening of what would be his first of many hairdressers in the city of Barcelona. A place for creation and innovation, as if it were an atelier, which gave space to what would be his first milestone in history: he opened the first unisex hairdressing salon in Spain in 1972.
In that same decade, the stylist opened the Llongueras International Institute and received the title of International Master at the Intercoiffure headquarters in Paris, from the iconic Alexandre de París.
An achievement that, in Franco's times and with a country that was light years away from other world capitals, generated a huge stir for trying to eliminate that sacred gender division.
His passion for culture and art led him in the 80s to delve into other disciplines beyond styling, such as sculptor and photographer.
Llongueras consolidated its role as a benchmark in the beauty industry in the 1990s, when it began to organize the first Llongueras Conference on Hairdressing and Image in Paris, at the Espace Cardin.
Llongueras has been one of the most recognized stylists in Spain and among the numerous awards he has received, the AIPP International Legend Award at the Royal Albert Hall and the prestigious International Legend Award for Art stand out.
