Twiggy Recalls Accidental Haircut That Launched Her Career

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Twiggy Recalls Accidental Haircut That Launched Her Career

23.09.2026 23 September 2026
2003
2 min.
15 connections
1 quote

flickr.com

Twiggy Recalls Accidental Haircut That Launched Her Career

Twiggy Revisits the Haircut That Recast London Fashion

A new home release of Sadie Frost's documentary Twiggy has returned attention to the accidental salon visit that transformed a London teenager into an international fashion symbol. The film became available on demand and DVD in North America on September 22.

Before fame, 16-year-old Lesley Hornby expected only to have her long hair styled for an evening out. At a Mayfair salon, Leonard Lewis instead asked whether he could give her a short experimental cut. She disliked the idea but felt too shy to refuse. Photographer Barry Lategan then created a portrait to document the result.

That image attracted a fashion journalist and moved far beyond the salon wall. Diana Vreeland recognized the teenager's unusual potential and encouraged a session with Richard Avedon. Twiggy soon represented the visual energy of Swinging London despite being shorter and slimmer than agencies normally preferred. Looking back at the sequence, she said, “I couldn't have planned any of it.”

Frost's documentary treats the famous pixie cut as a beginning rather than a complete explanation. It follows Twiggy's move from modelling into music and acting, her marriage to Michael Witney and her later life with actor Leigh Lawson. Her screen work included The Boy Friend and The Blues Brothers, while television brought appearances in The Nanny and Absolutely Fabulous.

The film widens that personal account with contributions from Dustin Hoffman, Joanna Lumley, Paul McCartney, Stella McCartney, Sienna Miller, Brooke Shields and Tommy Tune. Their presence places Twiggy's influence across cinema, fashion, music and theatre instead of confining it to photographs from the 1960s.

Twiggy remains professionally active at 77. She presents the Tea With Twiggy podcast and has continued developing fashion partnerships after earlier collections for QVC and Marks Spencer. Soundview Media Partners is handling the documentary's current home release, introducing the story to viewers six decades after the haircut that first made her visible.

MCCARTNEY Paul

Musician
#163
AVEDON Richard

American fashion and portrait photographer
#306
MILLER Sienna

British actress
#274
LUMLEY Joanna

British actress
#529
LAWSON Dame

English model
#946
LEWIS Leonard

British hairdresser
#951
LATEGAN Barry

Photographer
#955
VREELAND Diana

American fashion columnist and editor
#960
WITNEY Michael

American film and television actor
#966
LAWSON Leigh

English actor
#972
HOFFMAN Dustin

American actor and filmmaker
#976
MCCARTNEY Stella

English fashion designer
#981
SHIELDS Brooke

American actress
#987
TUNE Thomas

American actor
#991
Marks & Spencer (M&S)

#56

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Section: culture

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