Meet the Croatian Hairdresser Making it Big in America

Vogue magazine recently voted him as one of the best hairdressers in America…

After going from cutting hair in the small Croatian town of Karlovac, to owning a salon in Washington D.C where he charges America’s rich and famous up to 4,500 dollars a pop, life must seem like a dream at times for 35-year-old Croat Neven Radović.

Seven years ago Radović left Croatia for the bright lights of Washington D.C, and now he has just opened a salon dedicated to the rich and famous. But his rise to the top in his field has not been an easy one. Before he left for the United States, Radović was a well-known hairdresser in Croatia. He always had a desire to do much more with his career and decided to try his luck in London. But it was when Radović left for Washington D.C in 2008 that his luck started to change.

After arriving in Washington D.C and crashing with a friend, Neven started knocking on salon doors, going for interviews and trials at a number of salons before getting an offer to work at a salon opened by well-known New York hairdresser to the stars Ted Gibson. Radović accepted the job and spent 6 years working at the salon before moving to work at Ian McCabe Studio.

“I had some luck because I was in the right place at the right time, but with luck I also had a dose of courage to face new challenges and the unknown. In those moments it is important that you believe in yourself and that you don’t give up,” Neven, who is currently on holiday in Croatia, told Jutarnji list.

Radović, who has cut the hair of a number of famous people including Will & Grace star Debra Messing, says that he was most nervous before cutting the hair of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anne Wintour.

“While I was on my way to her hotel scenes from ‘Devil wears Prada’ were going through my head. But, such a warm women, with her hair washed greeted me and the make-up person. She did not have any special requirements, only that it was all done in half an hour tops. It was all done in 25 minutes and the legendary fashion editor was satisfied, because every time she comes to Washington D.C she wants me to do her hair,” said Neven, who says he likes women’s hair to be healthy and nice and that length is not important.

Neven says with his first decent paycheck in the US he bought a car. Since then he has managed to also buy an apartment in Washington D.C.

“The biggest difference between hairdressers in Croatia and those in America is the economic aspect. In America your earnings depend on commission, salary is variable,” said Neven. (photos / Facebook)