Robert LobettaHis Work:

At 18 years old, Lobetta began his hairdressing career at Ricci Burn's Salon on London's Kings Road in Chelsea. After a year-and-a-half of studying, practicing and working late, Ricci gave Lobetta the opportunity to do a cover and editorial shoot for 19 magazine. He was then promoted to artistic director. From there, Lobetta moved on to work at Michaeljohn in London's Mayfair and then embarked on three salon ventures of his own. This taught him that his work was better suited for editorial, advertising and image creation. In 1985, he was approached by Sebastian International and became the company's creative director for 23 years until his recent departure.

Why He's Influential: His ideology of beauty and unique approach to create thought-provoking imagery are two of the reasons he influences others in his craft. Lobetta operates intuitively without a great deal of calculation. It is his self awareness, his insistence on visual pleasure and his provocative manipulations performed in the name of beauty that make his visuals some of the most creative, influential and inspirational within the industry.

Who Influences Him: "Being able to collaborate with diverse, even eccentric, people in unexpected ways, can prompt the most wonderful influences," says Lobetta. "If I had to make a list of people who influence me I would say, Rafael Nadal, Karl Lagerfeld, Clint Eastwood, Damien Hearst, Steven Meisels, Charles Saatchi, Leonard Cohen, Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse and David Bowie."

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