12.19.18
Legendary hairstylist Oribe Canales passed away on December 16th in New York City -- and the beauty and fashion industries are mourning the loss of an icon.
Canales, who was known throughout the industry as Oribe, lived in Miami. He suffered liver and kidney failure in a hospital after going to New York for cancer treatment last month, reports say.
Oribe was Cuban-American, and ran several salons in New York City during his career -- until he opened an ultra-glamorous one on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in 1991, which closed in 2002. In 1995, he opened a second location near his home in Miami Beach.
He was also a driving force behind the creation of Oribe Hair Care, which he founded in 2008 -- and developed many of the luxury brand's cult-favorite products, before selling the company to Kao USA this year.
Oribe, along with a team that usually included photographer Steven Meisel, makeup artist Francios Nars, and fashion stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, was responsible for creating iconic looks for nearly every original supermodel in the 1980s and 1990s --- when the term "supermodel" was first used to describe Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, and Kate Moss.
He worked tirelessly with his team backstage at fashion shows all over the world, creating the most memorable runway hairstyles for the biggest names in fashion, including Gianni Versace. Throughout his entire career, he remained one of the most sought-after hairstylists for editorial fashion shoots.
Celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, told reporters not only about how he influenced their look -- but how he was a genuinely kind person who became close friends with most of his "clients." Lopez first met him in 1998, on the cover shoot for her first album. He styled Christy Turlington's hair for her wedding in 2003.
Naomi Campbell told the NY Times, “Whatever he wanted to do, the trust was unconditional...Even when he had my hair in Krazy Glue once. He said, ‘How do we do extensions? Let’s Krazy Glue them.’ We had to cut them out because we couldn’t get them off.”
He also helped others in the beauty industry become successful, as loving memories flood social media.
SherRae, a freelance hairstylist who often works closely with Tyra Banks, posted on Instagram, "I lost the man who took me from a little girl with a dream to a woman who has traveled every continent on this earth...Oribe Canales gave me an education no degree or university could. My old passports are the textbooks...thanks to God for giving me one of his many angels! ...I’ll carry on your legacy Oribe! You are a genius!"
Anthony Palermo, co-founder of the Anthony Leonard Salon, went to work as an assistant hair colorist at Oribe's salon on Fifth Avenue right after beauty school. He posted on Instagram, "...I’m completely crushed...When you meet someone that believes in you...Oribe is that person for me, a true friend...took me into his salon, put me on a pedestal and told me I was a star...he spoke a different language that only few people understood...he kept people he loved very close to him, and protected them..I can go on and on for hours...I will keep you in my heart forever...a legend that we all owe so much to!"
RIP Oribe.
