Stylist to stars, a coiffeur of dreams, and a man who has his feet firmly on the ground even when his dreams are loftily high — meet hairstylist Eri Su.
For the past 14 years, Eri Su has been treating the art of hairstyling with the same mettle as an artist or Olympic athlete would. “Consistency, passion, discipline and willingness to learn will improve one’s quality of work,” Eri Su remarks. We would add one more trait he possesses — charisma, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as the ability to attract the attention and admiration of others.
A hairstylist’s role today is not just confined to cutting and cropping as it is to sometimes play the hyped wingman to an unconfident customer or function as a salon chair therapist. “It takes experience to read a client’s body language whether they are comfortable with the suggestions given by the hairstylist or if the session is too long,” Eri Su adds, which could be another reason for his string of successes: two salons, a haircare brand, and a burgeoning career as a celebrity stylist.
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Like Tinsel Town, Singaporean hairstylists have become mini-stars, but beyond the smiling shots with celebrities at events and a Rolodex of clients, Eri Su’s success story feels especially gratifying in today’s fast game of fame. He started as a shampoo boy at Kimage Hair Salon in 2008 without prior experience or knowledge, and later discovered he had a natural gift when the salon’s management invested in him by sending him to local and overseas courses.
Next came Asia’s Next Top Model and Singapore Fashion Week — two fringe activities proved to the man, who had always been interested in the fashion industry and who cites fashion designer “Ashley Isham as a huge inspiration to me”, that a career in hairstyling was not just a prolonged cut-and-dry period for him, especially after a bitter brush with a salon he applied to that outrightly rejected him based on his race.
Eri Su is not shy when it comes to openly speaking about the bad times as he does about the good. “When I was in my mid-twenties, I felt unmotivated at my job, so I decided to try something else. I applied for a job as a flight attendant and flew for about a year and a half. I was still freelancing as a hairstylist, but as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. It made me realise that I miss being a hairstylist.”
And in 2020, he set up Eri Su Salon with one game- changing proposition during the pandemic — instead of avant-garde cuts or eccentric colours, he focused on climate-proofing the hair.
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One does not go to Eri Su Salon for a drastic makeover like in Rain Man or Crazy Stupid Love (though he most certainly can). Instead, he visits the salon to find the best hair solution for a renewed sense of self (The keratin-laminating Global Brazilian Gloss is the most sought- after treatment that controls frizz and imbues shine for up to three months) and regardless of his personality trope — be it intellectual, jock, rebel, or a combination — the staff at Eri Su Salon preaches a routine that fixes the follicles first before flair.
The technique starts from the top: listen to a customer’s daily routine, observe how they dress, and style their hair in a way that makes them walk a little taller without much fuss.
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At the moment, Eri Su’s feet are firmly grounded while his heads are in the cloud. “It’s a new field, but as a hairstylist myself, I should have the ability to make Erishoo’s products cater to Singapore’s climate,” says Eri Su, who is focused on taking his haircare brand to greater success while aspiring to be a mogul with Eri Su Salon.
“My aim is to open up more outlets in Singapore or abroad and maybe to open up a hair academy one day. As contradictory as it may sound, given that I work around the clock, I feel that a work-life balance is important for our physical and mental well-being. I try to apply that to my everyday life as much as possible.”
Photography Natalie Dykes
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