25 American Hair Influencers Who Work Behind the Chair

Jonathan Van Ness was a working hairstylist before Queer Eye made them a household name, and they turned that fame into JVN Hair, a podcast, comedy tours, and books without ever leaving the chair behind. Their feed is hair, joy, and advocacy.

Their audience is huge and mainstream, which suits hair care, beauty, and wellness brands that want reach with a point of view.

Victor Fontanez, known as Vic Blends, gives free haircuts to strangers and films the conversations, and the format turned a Charlotte barber into one of the most-followed grooming creators in the world, with a chair that has hosted athletes, musicians, and people who just needed to talk.

His audience is young men across the United States, which suits grooming, apparel, and lifestyle brands.

Chris Appleton moved from Leicester to Los Angeles and became the most famous celebrity hairstylist in America, with Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Ariana Grande as clients and a Color Wow partnership that turned his techniques into products.

His audience is beauty-obsessed and global, which suits hair care and luxury beauty brands, and his British roots put him on our list of UK influencers too.

Dionte Gray, known as Arrogant Tae, is the Chicago wig artist behind Nicki Minaj's most talked-about looks, and his transformations and unfiltered personality made him one of the most-followed stylists in the country.

His audience is young, Black, and beauty-focused, which suits wig, hair-care, and beauty brands.

Guy Tang turned a colorist's chair into a YouTube channel and then into #mydentity, his own color line, and his transformations and singing made him the most recognizable colorist in America.

His audience is stylists and color-obsessed consumers, which suits professional and consumer hair-color brands, and he is a rare crossover into our list of Asian YouTubers.

Brad Mondo built one of the biggest hair channels on YouTube with his Hairdresser Reacts series, wincing through home dye jobs and bleach disasters, then launched XMONDO Hair, a brand built on the audience that watched him cringe.

His audience is young and enormous on YouTube, which suits hair care, color, and beauty brands aimed at Gen Z.

Rob Ferrel, known as Rob the Original, is the San Antonio barber who carves portraits of athletes and celebrities into hair, a skill that made him a viral fixture and a regular at sports events and brand activations.

His audience is young men and sports fans, which suits grooming, sports, and entertainment brands.

Tokyo Stylez built a career on wigs so precise that Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, and Naomi Campbell wear them, and the transformations made her one of the most-followed wig artists in the world.

Her audience is beauty and celebrity-focused, which suits wig, hair-care, and beauty brands.

Cliff Vmir is a Philadelphia stylist whose wig installs, transformations, and outsized personality built one of the largest followings of any working stylist, with a client list that spans music and reality television.

His audience is young, Black, and beauty-focused, which suits wig, hair-care, and beauty brands.

Adir Abergel is the stylist behind Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, and Anne Hathaway on the red carpet and the creative director of Virtue Labs, and his feed is a masterclass in polished, camera-ready hair.

His audience is beauty professionals and consumers who follow red-carpet hair, which suits premium hair-care brands.

Ted Gibson has styled Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, and Lupita Nyong'o, runs the STARRING by Ted Gibson salon in Los Angeles, and has been a television fixture on makeover shows for two decades.

His audience is mainstream and beauty-minded, which suits hair-care and salon brands.

Milana, known as Milabu, built a following on hair tutorials, product reviews, and salon education that speaks to consumers and stylists at once, with a YouTube channel that anchors the feed.

Her audience is women who do their own hair and stylists who want techniques, which suits hair care and tools brands.

Whitney White, known as Naptural85, was one of the first natural-hair YouTubers and taught a generation of Black women to care for their curls, then co-founded Melanin Haircare to make the products she used to mix at home.

Her audience is Black women who trust her routines, which suits natural hair care and beauty brands, and she is a fixture of our list of Black influencers.

Kellon Deryck is the Atlanta stylist behind looks for some of the biggest names in music, with a feed of transformations, red carpets, and the confidence that made him a favorite among artists.

His audience is beauty and music fans, which suits hair-care, wig, and entertainment brands.

Kim Kimble has styled Beyoncé for more than a decade, along with Zendaya and Mary J. Blige, and turned her expertise into Kim Kimble Hair Care and a reality series about her salon. She is one of the most respected names in Black hair.

Her audience is women who follow celebrity hair, which suits hair-care and beauty brands.

Justine Marjan styles Ashley Graham, the Kardashians, and Olivia Culpo, serves as a TRESemmé global ambassador, and posts the kind of accessible how-to content that makes red-carpet hair feel doable.

Her audience is women who want celebrity looks at home, which suits hair-care and tools brands.

Chris McMillan created The Rachel, the most-requested haircut of the 1990s, and has been Jennifer Aniston's stylist ever since, with a Beverly Hills salon and a feed that still sets the standard for polished, natural hair.

His audience is mainstream and loyal, which suits premium hair-care and salon brands.

Anh Co Tran is the Los Angeles stylist whose lived-in cuts and effortless texture defined an era of California hair, with a client list of actresses and models and a feed of more than ten thousand posts.

His audience is women who want low-maintenance style, which suits hair-care and tools brands.

Riawna Capri co-owns Nine Zero One, the Los Angeles salon behind Selena Gomez and Julianne Hough, and co-founded In Common Beauty with her partner Nikki Lee. Her feed is transformations, salon life, and product.

Her audience is beauty consumers and stylists, which suits hair-care and salon brands.

Chizi Duru built a natural-hair following on YouTube with wash-day routines, product reviews, and honest talk about what works for type 4 curls, and her feed carries the same candor.

Her audience is Black women with textured hair, which suits natural hair care and beauty brands.

Nikki Lee co-owns Nine Zero One with Riawna Capri and styles Selena Gomez, Julianne Hough, and Emma Roberts, with a feed of celebrity looks and the extensions and cuts behind them.

Her audience is beauty consumers who follow celebrity hair, which suits hair-care and salon brands.

Justin Anderson is the colorist behind Kristin Cavallari, Miley Cyrus, and Jennifer Aniston's blondes and a co-founder of dpHUE, the color-care brand built on his gloss techniques.

His audience is blondes and the stylists who color them, which suits hair-color and color-care brands.

Laura Polko is the Los Angeles stylist behind Gigi Hadid, Chrissy Teigen, and Olivia Wilde on red carpets and shoots, with a feed that documents the looks and the tools behind them.

Her audience is fashion and beauty followers, which suits hair-care and tools brands.

Lacy Redway is the New York stylist behind red-carpet and editorial looks for Tessa Thompson, Olivia Palermo, and Joan Smalls, with a feed that celebrates textured hair at the highest level of fashion.

Her audience is fashion and beauty professionals, which suits premium hair-care and fashion brands.

Julius Caesar is a celebrity barber whose precision cuts, client reveals, and barbershop content built a following that reaches far beyond his chair, with athletes and musicians among the clients.

His audience is men who care about grooming, which suits grooming, apparel, and sports brands.