Christiaan

PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN BRYLLE. SPECIAL THANKS: MILK STUDIOS.

In 1991, Interview and Christiaan Houtenbos collaborated on a special project: giving free haircuts to members of the public in Central Park. The Dutch hairstylist was already extremely famous in the editorial world: he had moved to New York at age 20 and, after two years working in the salon at Bergdorf Goodman, had become a magazine and celebrity favorite, frequently collaborating with photographers like Arthur Elgort and shaping the iconic cuts of Grace Jones and Debbie Harry. He repeated the event in 2014 in collaboration with American Vogue, this time in Madison Square Park.

When asked to describe himself for this series, Christiaan keeps it simple. “[I am] this Dutch-born dude who got some very fluky and lucky breaks from life,” he writes. If he got the chance, he jokes that he would “be myself again for a second round.”

THINGS THAT INSPIRE ME:
World news.

THE PERSON I ADMIRE THE MOST:
Mandela.

AN EVENT I WISHED I’D WITNESSED:
Toppling the Berlin Wall.

QUESTIONS I CAN’T ANSWER:
What’s gonna get me in the end.

MY BIGGEST ADVENTURE:
Getting on a plane to New York.

THINGS I’D LIKE TO IMPROVE ABOUT MYSELF:
My balls.

GAMES I PLAY:
The flirt.

MY GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT:
Designing and building a great house myself without any sort of background in that field. 

MY GREATEST VICE:
Procrastination.

THINGS I’LL BE REMEMBERED BY: 
Always something, never nothing.

SOME THINGS I’D RATHER FORGET:
Lipstick.

MY IDEA OF HAPPINESS:
Waking up to a totally idle day.

ONE LAST FAVOR I’D LIKE TO ASK:
Everyone shave their heads once in a lifetime. 

For more from our “Beyond Here Lies Nothing” series, click here.