Pioneers in the Australian hairdressing industry, the De Lorenzo story has managed to survive world war, the Great Depression, retirement and death. Despite all these set backs, the brand lives on as a family business that continues to push the industry with groundbreaking developments. While the De Lorenzo business was started 25 years ago, the origins of the brand began 80 years ago in a barbershop in Coogee.
In 1931, 12-year-old boys Vincent and Anton De Lorenzo left school to become musicians for the silent movies that were being shown in theatres. When talkies (movies with sound) hit Australian shores, the boys packed up their instruments and looked for the next job that would bring in the bucks. With employment hard to come by due to the start of the Depression, Vincent and Anton managed to get work in a men’s barber shop where they started doing the menial tasks of sweeping floors. Moving on to men’s shaves and making the hot towels, the brothers were eventually promoted to cutting hair in which they became quite proficient. But with all men requesting the unchallenging short back and sides, the brothers decided there would be more opportunities if they branched out into the fashionable world of ladies hairdressing.
With this decided, Vincent and Anton started studying ladies styling at an academy in the evenings. Eventually they approached leading salon of the day Borrowmans for a job, but the owner refused to offer them an interview. The boys would spend every Wednesday afternoon for a year waiting in reception. Their persistence paid off and they began working at Borrowmans and in the end, they ended up running the salon and being the best hairdressers on the floor,” says Anton’s son and current De Lorenzo director Anthony De Lorenzo. The start of the Second World War put a hold on their hairdressing careers, but with the end of the war came the decision to start their own salon. In 1945, the first De Lorenzo hairdressing salon opened its doors. It grew to be a leading Sydney salon with over 40 hairdressers working the floor.
While the business was successful, Anton and Vincent were frustrated with the quality of products coming from Europe and the USA. They would take three to six months to arrive by boat and it would have often lost its potency,” reveals Anthony.
Not content with this, the brothers employed a chemist to give them the basics and rudiments of cosmetic chemistry. The two began making hair preparations for their own salon, which was very unique in those days. With friends and fellow hairdressers clamouring to use their creations, Anton and Vincent decided to start making the products commercially. All their formulations came together and they packaged it in a product called DELVA,” says Anthony. It was the first product in Australia that was salon only.”
The brand grew quite significantly after that, and by the mid-seventies around 50 per cent of salons in Australia were using DELVA product. They continued for quite a number of years and in 1979, they finally thought ‘We’ve had enough. It’s time to retire.’”
They sold the brand to Rickets & Coleman with grand plans of retirement, but it was not to be. After a little while, Dad and Vincent got terribly bored and didn’t know what to do with themselves,” laughs Anthony. We got together as a family and thought ‘Have we still got something to contribute to the industry?’ And the answer was ‘Yes!’”
The DeLorenzo family decided to get back into the industry and start a new haircare business based on similar concepts as the past. They wanted to continue to be a product for hairdressers to use for themselves as professionals and to recommend to their clients.
The family spent the next 18 months planning and developing product, and made the (then) groundbreaking decision to make their products as natural as possible and bring in the concept of renewable resources and natural raw materials. They were also adamant of steering clear of animal testing and using ingredients of animal origin.
In 1987, the De Lorenzo brand was launched. With it came innovations including the introduction of a human hair keratin protein, the development of a protein complex that mimicked human hair keratin, the creation of the first aerosol-free hairspray pump, and the production of the only professional colour range manufactured in Australia specifically made for the harsh climate.
While Anton sadly passed away in 2000 and Vincent in 2006, their sons Anthony, Chris and Vincent continue to run the family-owned business that stays true to its core values: being 100 per cent Australian made and owned, environmentally responsible, natural based and cruelty free.
In 2007, Vincent senior was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his services to hairdressing. The De Lorenzo family have shaped the landscape of the Australian hairdressing industry with plans to continue doing this well into the future. We want to be the fashion forward product of choice for hairdressers to achieve excellence in their work,” concludes Anthony.