Long before Adir Abergel was styling the hair of Hollywood royalty like Nicole Kidman and Anne Hathaway, he was a kid-colorist, with an arsenal of Revlon box dye from Rock and Roll Ralphs in Los Angeles.
“To make extra money, when I was 11, my aunt and her friends would make me color and blow-dry their hair,” Abergel remembered. “We would go buy the color at Ralphs, which was on Sunset and Poinsettia, and they would say, ‘Put this on. Mix this. Blow-dry the back.’ And I would be like, ‘Oh, I got this. Easy.’”
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One could argue Abergel’s career in hair was defined by this single sliding door moment. But his drive and tenacity have made him into the irrevocable image-maker he is today. That and his commitment to celebrating individuality in a world that works hard to homogenize its habitants — something he learned early on.
From the time he was born to about seven years old, Abergel lived in Israel with his dad, a human rights activist, and his mom, an artist. His after-school activities consisted of dressing up in costumes, painting, putting on makeup and protesting.
“It was a childhood based in a lot of love and equality and humanity. I was very lucky to be born into two parents who were quite rebellious,” Abergel said. “I think that’s where I got a lot of my fight that I have today for my girls and clients and women and people in my life. I have fought to make sure that their voices are heard and that they feel powerful as individuals. That’s my mission. It’s not just about hair. It’s about building the confidence and seeing them for who they are.”
When Abergel moved to L.A. to live with his aunt, he spent very little time at school compared to the hours he logged in the Guitar Center across the street, where he developed a love for dance and movement. By age 14, Abergel had dropped out of school, taken his graduate record examinations and ventured to New York in hopes of one day joining the American Ballet Theatre. A year and an unexpected injury later, Abergel found himself back in L.A., working as Arthur Johns’ assistant, where he spent the next six years shadowing his salon, sweeping hair scraps and mingling with the greats.
“Arthur was the most prolific hairdresser of that time,” he said of his mentor, who would often yell at him for forgetting to mix the color formulas. “His clients were Tina Turner, Olivia Newton-John, Carrie Fisher, Karen Carpenter. Everyone knew Arthur, and they all helped raise me. They were all my mothers. These were some of the smartest, most powerful women to be around.”
Abergel feels the same way about his clients now. “When people use the word ‘celebrity,’ I find it to be so funny because it’s not about the celebrity. These are celebrated women,” he said, calling out Kristen Stewart, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Garner. “I would do anything for them. We have grown up together. I’ve seen them through their ups, their downs, having children, laughter, celebrations, wins.”
As their hairstylist, Abergel continued, they’ve entrusted him with — arguably — the most intimate aspect of their identity. If the energy doesn’t flow and their values aren’t aligned, the relationship won’t work.
“I just want whoever I’m working with to be happy. When I’m working with these people, it’s not just about them. I’m working with some of the most amazing makeup artists to some of the best people in the world. I’m surrounded by people at the top of their field doing such beautiful, impactful, pop cultural, referential work. And so it’s about building these beautiful, deep relationships and being able to kind of go ahead and be a storyteller with hair,” he said.
Hair, to him, is “one of the most powerful accessories on the planet. “Hair walks into the room and can give you your essence. What I do with hair is I manipulate and sculpt it into these different shapes, into these different ways, into these different color schemes, to express different versions of the self,” he said, adding that most of the products he uses are by Virtue Labs, the biotech hair care line. Abergel joined the brand as creative director in 2017.
Among Abergel’s greatest hits are Sandra Bullock’s slicked side part at the 82nd annual Academy Awards, Gwyneth Paltrow’s low ponytail at the 2012 Oscars, Charlize Theron’s finely-chopped bob and Nicole Kidman’s blond bangs at the Chanel spring 2026 show last year.
Then, of course, there are the wigs he’s made for his husband every Halloween, a job that takes months to complete. “Last year, he was Johnny [Depp] from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ and it was so good. But he kept on telling me, ‘This is not big enough,’ and I was like, ‘You’re a nightmare client,'” Abergel laughed.
As for his own hair, Abergel tucks it all under a hat, preferably a wide-brimmed fedora, and calls it a day. “I just don’t have the time,” he said.