Since his very first Vogue cover in 1977, hair stylist Sam McKnight has been behind some of the most iconic fashion shoots of all time. Here, he tells Mariella how he found himself in the vanguard of the most glamorous industry in the world. 

"I wanted to be part of that world — it looked so luxurious and glamorous, a kind of world I had never seen before."  

"Hair is transformative", so says Sam McKnight. Captivated by the pages of glossy magazines as a teen, the now-lauded hair stylist moved to London from the small mining town of New Cumnock to find himself landing a job in the capital's most illustrious hair salon and styling Vogue shoots by 1977. After four decades of iconic covers, catwalk shows and celebrity clientele (he was personal hair stylist to Princess Diana for seven years), he marked his star-studded career with the launch of an eponymous line of hair products in 2017.