“Janet's not stuck in a look at all,” says Janet Zeitoun of Miss Jackson, pop royalty. “And that was what made her the perfect canvas to design on.”
Zeitoun was a recent hair-school grad when she began working with a teenage Janet Jackson in the ’80s. Over multiple eras since, she’s crafted signature styles tailored to one of music’s most physically dynamic performers. Zeitoun was versatile. For the 1995 Michael & Janet duet “Scream,” she designed hair for both singers over the weeklong shoot—Janet in the mornings, MJ at night—that was “radical, yet beautiful” to match the track’s intensity. On the cover of 1997’s The Velvet Rope, Zeitoun worked through five shades of red to achieve the eye-popping dimensional color of Janet’s tight curls. Her striking mohawk in the 2007 “Call on Me” video came from a whim.
“I had to create looks that would last,” says Zeitoun, who considered music and movement with every style. “If her hair became wet on stage, would it still look good?”
Zeitoun made sure it always did.
Learn more about Zeitoun’s memorable work for two of pop music’s biggest stars of all time in our exclusive Q&A below. Check out more of her work in the in our special edition Headz zine, guest edited by Nikki Nelms, in Complex Magazine Issue No. 3. It's available on Complex now.
How did you get into hair?
I’ve been doing hair since I was 12. I just seemed to have a natural knack for it. I used to do my mom's hair; She'd go to the hair salon and she wouldn’t like it, so I'd redo it for her. I never wanted to be a hairstylist. I wanted to be a motion picture director. I love storytelling, lighting, all those kinds of things. I began to work with Janet and Michael in the ‘80s. I went from hair school to working with Michael and then Janet within a few years.
They gave me the opportunity to fulfill a dream because everything that they were doing was about creating these videos. Michael would call. You couldn't say “music video” with him. You had to say “short film.” It satisfied me a lot. I designed a lot of my hair looks for them through how I felt about what they were going through or what they were trying to portray. It became more than just hair for me. I got into the concept Michael would tell me he believed in and valued me. He allowed me to go with whatever suggestion I gave him.
How old was Janet when you started working together?
Janet was 17 years old. I don't think Janet had experienced a real haircut before then. She came to the salon, and she didn't give me much instruction, but I cut and styled her hair. Then, she asked me if I could do the Dick Clark show for her. I created this hairstyle that took a little inspiration from Elvis Presley. I gave her sideburns and this high hair. It stood up. I knew she moved a lot when she danced. She was really hard on her movement, so I had to create a look that would last. And she got known for those hairstyles where she'd move. No matter what, it would always go back into place. That was the first look I gave her.
What was your secret to making sure that the hair was able to withstand that movement?
The foundation was a good cut. If it's not cut well, it’ll just go all over the place, and it won't go back. I would also use Freeze and Shine back in the day, and spray her curls to keep the moisture off of her hair when she perspired. It was very strong. Every time I cut her hair, I thought about the songs and her movement. That was very important. She would sweat so much, so I had to think about if her hair did become wet on stage, would it still look good?
The Velvet Rope era. The color of Janet’s hair in the album art is so gorgeous. The natural texture also looks so great. What was the process in achieving that look?
We used color that was very dimensional. There were about five shades of red that literally went through that look to establish that color. So, it's not just one color. That was a process. I think that's what makes it so beautiful. For all Janet's looks, there was never one base color.
How did you maintain the health of her hair while doing all of this color?
We didn't use a lot of heat with these styles, and that helped a lot. That's the main thing. If you're going to do color, you have to minimize the heat. Not all hair textures can even take high lift, even if it's virgin.
What were your favorite curly products that you used with her back then?
I always used Paul Mitchell sculpting foam. And that's pretty much all I ever used with her back in the day.
I don't like a lot of product on the hair. I try to find a product that works and delivers what I want. There's another product too, the Sculpting Curl from Bedhead.
You worked with Michael and transitioned to working with Janet. A favorite moment for the two of them is the “Scream” music video. What was the concept for the hair in that video for the two of them?
Michael asked me to do the video, and then Janet asked me to do the video, and I said, “Yeah, fine.” I worked with both of them.
I was not made aware of anything about this video. All I knew was that Mark Romanek was going to be the director. I didn't hear the song until I walked on the set. I heard it in the background, and I heard this scream. Kevin Qua was already doing Janet’s makeup and had blacked her eyes out. So the pressure was on.
I started working with Janet [on the video] before I started working with Michael, but I didn't know it was going to be two different shifts where Janet worked in the morning until about 6 a.m., and then Michael came in the evening. There was just one scene where they danced together, but most of the time it was shot separately. It was like that for a whole week. I hardly left the set.
So you're just walking into it blindly.
Janet always had this way of thinking, “Oh, she'll come up with something.” [Laughs.]
When I heard the music, it just automatically clicked that it needed to be radical, but beautiful at the same time. I hadn't even seen the clothes. I just went inside myself and came up with what I did.
Janet's look in the video is this punky bob. There's a lot of volume; it has a lot of texture to it. How did you do that?
About three different blades. I cut hair inside and left pieces that would extend over the shorter pieces to hold them up. I used a lot of spray at the base to keep the hair from collapsing down when she would dance. I didn't want her to ever lose those moments. There's one shot in the video where she's moving her head back and forth, and then the bang is just sweeping across her forehead. That is the most controlled look that you'll see in the video. And that was a beautiful shot. I wanted it to feel like how I felt the song was. I wanted it to be projecting–wild, crazy, and erratic.
And you cut her natural hair into this shape on set?
Yes.
Because you are her key hairstylist and not just one-off for the project, did you think about how she can wear this hair beyond this video?
You know what, Janet didn't think that much. There were times Janet would come, and she wanted me to cut all her hair off. She's not stuck. I would say she likes simple, but she's not stuck in a look at all. That was what made her the perfect canvas to design on.
And then with Michael, it's long and sleek.
The contrast was great. If he'd had something wild, I don't think it would've been as complimentary to Janet or vice versa. His look with the long hair was very definite. It was dramatic because you didn't really see Michael like that very much [at the time]. I think the looks were new for both of them, and they complemented the music. They both loved it.
The last look that I want to ask you about is the hair for Janet's “Call On Me” video.
That was all done in one day, and I didn't have an assistant. It was so funny because the changes were so different that when she’d leave the trailer, people would stand outside and clap when she came out because it would be so extremely different each time. I really enjoyed that project because it was challenging and I got to express myself even more. Some of the pieces could even be period pieces. My favorite was the mohawk.
What would you say is your favorite look with Janet?
I love the ponies in “Together Again.” That was really my favorite. Those are copied today . A lot of girls do those now. I love The Velvet Rope a lot. The Janet album, the look on the beach. [Patrick] Demarchelier was the photographer, and we were on the beach all day. Then he said, let's go back to the studio and do some more shots. Janet was standing there, and her hair was more tousled because it had been weathered out in the elements, and we were only there about an hour, and got that shot, and that was the cover.
What would you say is your favorite memory with Janet?
My favorite memory with Janet, I think it was just our personal time together. Sometimes she'd come to my house, and we'd go to breakfast together. She felt like a sister. It wasn't really about the spotlight or anything. It was just fun working with Michael and Janet, who valued me and let me show my creativity and contributed that to their careers, and I really loved that. And I’m very thankful to this day for having had the opportunity to have done so. I think Janet had an influence on allowing people of color to just embrace their textures and express themselves. Hair doesn't have to be straight. It can be, but just to love who we are as people and our textures, I think she had a great influence on that.