I didn't know I wanted to be a hairdresser. I was always interested in fashion and imagery in a very naive way, but it was always an attraction, like glitter balls. This was in the late '70s, early '80s, so it wasn't like today, where you kind of know all about the industry. Fashion was a very insider industry then - it was very closed. So I didn't really know what I wanted to do.

It's hard to be shocking now. It's hard to challenge people because the Internet has allowed everyone to become much more worldly, much more visual. It's very hard to surprise people.

I celebrate every culture. I love the mix of cultures and I'm never going to change that because that's inspiring to me.

I think now because of this whole social media thing, people obviously felt these things [about cultural appropriation] before, and they comment on everything.

I have a total complex [because of my curls], though, because I got teased a lot as a kid.

I worked at a bunch of salons, and at one, a girl was going out to do a photo shoot for a women's magazine and brought me along to assist her. I remember going on that shoot and thinking, "God, this is great. It's creative, and you get to work with all of these other creative people." At that point I decided that hair would be my in to fashion and all the things I thought I would enjoy - and did enjoy.

I think it's more funny how every bit of information is up for grabs.