H a p p y 6 0 th B i r thday
We can barely believe it either, but Royston Blythe will be 60 years old on 20th March 2017. So, to celebrate his milestone birthday, we dug-out some old photos and asked Royston to take us on a trip down memory lane. Our reporter, Helen Taylor met-up with him just before he jetted off to celebrate his 60th birthday in style Down Under. Over the 44 years he’s been in the industry, Royston has done it all; he’s styled the rich and famous, travelled the world, established a highly successful brand – with his partner, Nick – and made clients everywhere look - and feel - amazing. Yet his story started from humble beginnings. Raised singlehandedly by his mother, Royston - and his sister - grew up on a council estate in Wednesbury. “Money was really tight when I was growing up. I always knew I wanted to be a hairdresser and when my mum could afford a hair colour, I enjoyed doing her hair,” explains Royston. With little interest in school, he left aged 16 to pursue his passion for hairdressing and enrolled at West Bromwich College. “After training as a hairdresser, I started working at Peter Pyne before moving to Wolverhampton’s most prestigious salon at the time, Raymond’s.” And it was at this salon that Royston got his first taste of working with a celebrity clientele.
Royston, the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, Nick
“Virtually everyone who was performing at The Grand Theatre came into Raymond’s.” Working full time in Wolverhampton during the week, Royston headed to London at the weekend. “I’ve always socialised in London and in the 1970’s I did Go-Go dancing twice a week and began to move in many different celebrity circles.” Royston’s career was taking off; he was busy creating hair – and make-up – looks for top fashion photo-shoots, styling celebrities and enjoying the London lifestyle. And, it wasn’t long before he would meet Nick, his partner of 32 years, and open his first salon. “I met Nick whilst I was down in London. We were friends for a while before starting our relationship.” Now highly experienced in the industry, Royston opened Royston Blythe in Newbridge, Wolverhampton - in 1989. Twelve months later Nick joined the business becoming the other half of the Royston Blythe brand – and the duo moved to their present site in Compton. Spending an increasing amount of time going out in London - socialising with everyone from Tara Palmer-
Nick and Royston in December 2016
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Royston, Cherie Blair, Cynthia Payne, Kevin Horkin
wolverhampton west magazine | march 2017