A CELEBRITY crimper has promised to make the Tartan Army feel a cut above the rest when they descend on Miami for a World Cup showdown.
Kirkcaldy-born Sean Donaldson is based in the Floridian city where his A-list clients include Kate Winslet, Victoria Beckham, Martina Navratilova and Sir Richard Branson and his family.
Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter
Thank you!
Sean Donaldson with his hubby Kevin, Richard Branson and his late wife Joan
Victoria Beckham is a regular client of Sean’s Credit: Getty
But he insists that Scotland fans will get the same VIP treatment when they visit the Jattvibeshine State for their final Group C match against Brazil.
Sean, who features in the new Channel 4 series Escape to Florida, says: “The thought of hearing my own accent everywhere is giving me goosebumps.
“I’m not a big football fan, but of course I’m so thrilled that Scotland will be here in America.
“And of course by the time they play Brazil in Miami some Scots fans might be needing a trim – if any of the Tartan Army turn up at my salon in their kilts and Scotland tops they’ll definitely get better than mates rates.”
Sean was raised in the Fife town by his hairdresser mum Gail, 75, going on to train at Kirkcaldy Tech – now Fife College – before working for hairstyling giants Vidal Sassoon.
He says: “On our last day at college I said I was going to work for Vidal Sassoon in London and everyone laughed.
“Not because they didn’t believe me but because I was always the joker in the class. But I was deadly serious because I always understood hair.”
Sean was true to his word and landed a job with Vidal Sassoon in Glasgow where he became one of the company’s youngest ever managers at the age of 22.
And after a short stint in London he was transferred to the firm’s salon in Atlanta, Georgia in 1995, where he worked his way up to senior executive manager by the time he was 30.
The Scot has been living in the US ever since where he’s now opened his own business Sean Donaldson Hairdressing with two salons in Miami.
Sean, 57, says: “The Scottish in me came out because I saw how much money I was making for other people, and I thought, ‘Wait a second, what’s going on here?’
“I had been managing salons for the majority of my career so I felt I knew what I was doing and could do it for myself.”
Over the decades he has built up a big celebrity clientele list including Posh Spice, who visits the Scot whenever she’s in town for Inter Miami CF games – as hubby David is co-owner of the US Club.
Sean says: “David Beckham’s team has just opened a huge new stadium here in Miami, so whenever Victoria Beckham’s in town, I style her hair.”
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has also become a regular after moving to Miami with her wife Julia Lemigova in 2025.
However the celeb family he is closest to are the Bransons – even giving Sir Richard a “gravity defying” hair do when the tycoon flew to space on board his Virgin Galactic rocket plane in 2021.
Sean gave Richard Branson his ‘gravity-defying’ haircut for his trip to space Credit: Reuters
Sean and hubby Kevin flying on a private jet to the Branson’s Necker Island
Sean, who lives with his husband Kevin, says: “We were there when Richard went into space.
“That’s when I cut Richard’s hair short as he always wore his hair long until that point.
“So I was there in New Mexico with his family and I watched the ship take off, go into orbit and then successfully return the crew back to Earth – you can imagine we had a huge celebration afterwards.”
But Sean was particularly close to Lady Joan Branson – Richard’s Glasgow-born wife who died last year at the age of 80 following a fall-induced blood clot.
He sighs: “Joan was my best friend, actually. We travelled the world together. I have been to their private Caribbean island Necker more times than I can remember.
“We travelled to Africa together and all around the States and Richard and Joan invited Kevin and I to join them when they launched Virgin Cruises.
“I got to see their kids grow up. They are all such wonderful people. So her loss has hit me really hard. She may have been a lady but she had been born in the Gorbals and was always so down to earth.
“I think we got on from the moment we met because we’re Scottish.”
Now Sean has promises to roll out the red carpet for any visiting members of the Tartan Army this summer.
He adds: “This may sound corny, but I genuinely treat all my clientele the same whether they are well known or not – but I will make an extra special effort for any Scots fans in Miami next month.”
*Sean will appear on Escape to Florida this Thursday (May 21) on Channel 4 at 4pm.
