Meet Kim Robinson, Hong Kong’s hair stylist to the stars

Kim Robinson’s home is dark and moody, a theme that is offset by the floor to ceiling windows with views of lush green tree tops as far as the eye can see. It sort of feels like that Aussie song Home Among the Gum Trees, and maybe it’s his subtle way of still feeling as if he is down under. 

As is his home, Kim Robinson salons are havens of beauty and luxury. His Hong Kong salon is situated in the prestigious Landmark Chater House, with his second Kim Robinson salon located in Singapore. “We operate in two cities. Clients travel from all over the world and tell us that we are one of the best operators in the beauty business that they have seen”. And having styled the hair of some of the most famous heads in the world, including Princess Diana, Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss, I do not doubt the accuracy of that statement.

Read more: Best hair salons in Hong Kong

But for Robinson, it’s more than flashy interiors, A-list celebrities and a luxury experience.

“I believe we’re in the business of empowerment. Women feel empowered when they feel great about themselves. You can actually change people completely and I’ve done it for years, I’m known for reinventing someone because I’ve changed the colour, the shape of their hairstyle, the texture, and they feel empowered by it, they feel confident”. 

Robinson goes on to show me photographs of women he has styled, and tells me how their lives were changed after their Kim Robinson style and cut. I have to ask; “What makes the way you cut hair different to other salons?”

“The way hairdressers work globally hasn’t changed in the last 50 years.” Robinson tells me. “I feel that what I’m trying to do is be more intelligent – I’m working with intelligent women, they’re investing in themselves. $13,000 is a lot of money for a haircut, it’s outrageous when you think of it as a fee. But it’s what’s coming with that haircut. I have to make sure that that’s blowing out the park, I have to make sure that they have something that they’ve never experienced before. They have to feel incredibly beautiful. If I don’t hear them say that – I haven’t done my job… but I wouldn’t be in the position I am in now, I wouldn’t be fully booked all the time and people wouldn’t be returning back if that were the case”. 

When I ask Robinson how he justifies $13,000 hair cuts in his salon, he goes on to say: “You’d have to ask my clients, they tell me time and time again that they get stopped on the street and asked who does their hair – and to them it’s priceless. So to me, along with having over 40 years experience in styling hair in Hong Kong, the client base that we service is justifying why we command that price”.

If anyone knows style – it’s Kim Robinson. So it makes sense that he would be in charge of styling his own Clearwater Bay home. “I didn’t want it to look like a pristine home in the city. The dogs come in and out, the floor is cement like it is outside so that people can walk in with dirty wet feet and nothing is precious here. It’s a country house… there’s a fire burning, it feels Aussie – I love this story. It’s about living a life as I would be anywhere in the world, in the countryside.” 

Robinson tells me he doesn’t see himself living anywhere else in the world. “I’ve had great opportunities here to do a lot of things and I can see more opportunity moving forward. We’ll continue to develop our new haircare range that we’ve been working on for the last ten years. I want to put my name on something exceptional, so I really want to make something incredible and I think in the next six months we should be able to launch it. I can’t wait to tell you more about it.”

All images courtesy of Edwin Datoc.