Iconic Hairstylist Garren Dishes on Hollywood's Most Memorable Transformations and His Top Styling Secrets

From Madonna to Victoria Beckham, legendary hairstylist Garren has wielded his scissors with precision, creating iconic looks that have left their mark in Hollywood history. Known for his transformative touch, Garren co-founded R+Co and has guided stars like the former Spice Girl through significant style shifts, including Beckham's groundbreaking 2008 pixie cut. "She [told me], 'I got to take the Posh out of me,'" Garren shared with Page Six Style, reflecting on how he inspired Beckham to embrace a shorter style before venturing into fashion design. "When she was done, she was like, 'Oh my God, I look so good ... I look so much younger, and I don’t look so stiff.'" Though the dramatic chop took place on a Thursday night, Beckham opted to stay in her hotel for nearly four days to debut her new 'do at the Marc Jacobs show. "All the press was all over her," Garren revealed. "The next day she said, 'When Jennifer Lopez picked me up, she opened the door and she said, ‘Garren did your hair.'" With a penchant for helping stars reinvent themselves, Garren has even taken on cosplay challenges for Kim Kardashian, assisting her in transformations to resemble Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Kennedy for various magazine covers. The journey began with Farrah Fawcett in the '70s, when a bob created for a Studio 54 party made headlines and led to an enduring friendship between the two. "We just had such a great time," Garren reminisced. "She’d come to our apartment, we’d go to dinner together — it was just great." Fast forward to today, and Garren expressed frustration with current hair trends, saying they have been stuck "on one note" for the past decade. "I’m just so bored with it," he laughed. "So I started doing interviews and saying, 'Please cut your hair. Whack it off, chop it — do something to it.'" In addition to championing bold changes, Garren is challenging common hair myths with his R+Co and R+Co Bleu hair care lines. One such misconception? That you should switch shampoo and conditioner frequently for optimal results. "Not true, if it’s good [product]," he asserted, emphasizing the Reparative, Essential, and Blonded collections designed to cater to various hair colors and goals. Below, Garren shares his expert tips, tricks, and essential styling products for achieving celebrity-worthy locks: "I find that if you have very curly hair … and you want to smooth the hair out so it has a nice shine to it, this is the go-to product for that. [It] makes your blowout take half the time." "My one go-to, all-purpose styling product. It doesn’t weigh the hair down, it just closes the cuticle and gives the hair a lot of protection." "[This] has been a big winner for people that live in the East Coast if it's raining out and it's humid. They could finish their hair at home, and then they could spray their hair with this, get to the restaurant or the event they’re going to, and run their brush or fingers through their hair. It all bounces back and looks shiny." "Flip the head upside down and spray it all through the hair. Then shake your head upside down, let it dry and flip your head back. It gets really voluminous and separated and full. The waves come back." This article was penned by Hannah Southwick, Commerce Associate Editor for Page Six. A prolific writer, Hannah delves into affordable celebrity-favorite styles, puts celebrities' brands to the test, and discovers the beauty products that keep stars red carpet-ready. Consulting stylists and industry pros—including celebrities themselves—for firsthand product recommendations, trend predictions, and more, her work has been featured in USA Today and Parade since 2020.