Barba

Coming up on his 25th anniversary in the beauty industry, Xavier Cruz has established a reputation as a true innovator. He is someone who consistently sets trends rather than follows them. The New York City native began his career while still a teenager, at just 14 years young learning the trade at Staten Island’s Hairplay. After an apprenticeship lasting three years, he attended a trade school where he would receive his license at only 17. After nine more years honing his craft while traveling the country for Revlon doing hair shows and product demonstrations with his mentor, Cruz struck out on his own and opened The Xavier Cruz Salon in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in 1995. The exclusive salon quickly became a pioneer in more ways than one. The Xavier Cruz Salon had become one of the first businesses to revitalize Chelsea’s now thriving 9th Avenue corridor. It developed a reputation for sophisticated clientele and chic trendsetting work with Cruz designing many of the cuts and styles himself. Not only did the salon become one of New York’s most buzzed about beauty spots, but it garnered national attention as well. In 1999, Cruz’s salon was the subject of a major mens grooming feature in GQ magazine.

Word quickly spread. His freelance work has appeared in numerous high profile fashion magazines including Elle and Vogue as well as Men's Fitness, Oyster and Stuff magazines. His celebrity clientele includes Debra Harry and Carson Kressley’s, a hairdo for Dreamgirls star Jennifer Holliday and the Infamous Coop (pronounced Coup) haircut as he made famous for Anderson Cooper. This cut marked the first of thousands in the years to follow. With New York's Chelsea Neighborhood becoming notorious for that particular style, it gained momentum and exploded worldwide And mega rapper, Eminem, for whom he famously styled an army of lookalikes for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

Cruz has also brought his expertise to Broadway, working on hit shows including Metamorphoses, Boy From Oz, The Vagina Monologs and the Tony Award-winning Hairspray. After opening The Xac Anthony Salon & Spa in 2004, Xavier was once again making headlines. He, alongside the late Anthony Valente, hit the ground running. Xavier was the celebrity guest stylist for Nickelodeon's Go Healthy Challenge and the XA Salon & Spa was featured in the film Violet Tendencies: staring Mindy Cohen.

In 2009, the hot designer Trish Wescoat Pound requested Xavier's presence at her studio to give his own personal expertise on her then new line, Haute Hippy. She asked that he come up with hairstyles for her models. Trish loved it so much that she asked if he and his team would style for Fashion Week to launch her new line. Time Out New York covered the event and interviewed Xavier as he spoke about his meeting with Trish and how he came up with the looks. Tune into Youtube and search Xac Anthony Salon to watch the event. Instyle Magazine also interviewed Cruz. In that interview he was asked to style, Demi Moore, Lady GaGa, Beyonce and many more celebs in The How To section, making Xavier quite the celebrity himself.

The salon hosted many events raising money for charities with the infamous Red Party and Orange party. Hundreds participated at these events wearing theme colors to show their support. The Salon became the talk of the town. The Xac Anthony Salon & Spa was the nation’s first to offer elegant spa services, anesthesia, and exclusive celebrity-oriented offerings, while still finding the time to create tattoo-friendly artwork for tattoofinder.com.

The salon was the first in launching Couture Tattoos. Tattoo finder CEO Lou Bardach gives an exclusive interview with the artist to talk about the rise of Couture tattooing and how Xac Anthony Salon & Spa became its pioneer (search Youtube for the interview).

Watch Xavier (Xac) and Anthony give a tour of the once famous salon during the interview. Unfortunately the salon closed its doors in 2009, ending a major chapter in Xavier's life both personally and professionally.