Luca was born in a small town near Lucca and he lived with his parents who worked as flowers sellers. He started getting acquainted with his vocation as a hair stylist by chance during a summer between his middle school years, when he was sent to work in a barber shop.

Up to that moment he had been dreaming of attending a conservatory and thus becoming a musician, but during that very summer a new scenario unfolded before his eyes. He started leafing through hairstyle magazines and there he first saw the great cuts by famous hair stylists, in particular Vidal Sassoon.

From this moment on things took a different turn and when he finished middle school he decided to attend a hairdressing school. Soon his ambition and creativity let him understand that he did not only want to be a good hairdresser, but he wanted to turn this craft into something more and in 1990 he inaugurated his first hair salon for men in his native town.

Since the very beginning what characterised Luca Piattelli’s small salon was the great customer focus and the relentless quest for improving quality and increase professionalism. Shortly after Luca realised that working exclusively with men’s haircuts was no longer enough to him and then together with Katia Carmignani – his fiancée at that time and now his wife – he opened the doors to lady customers.

Luca and Katia attended an increasing number of professional training courses and in 2000 they inaugurated a bigger salon which was going to act as a springboard and a stage for lots of major events. Many important people have visited the salon so far like the well-known journalist Enzo Biagi, the comic actor Giorgio Panariello, the maestro Demo Morselli, the famous singer Massimo Ranieri, the popular show-girl Matilde Brandi and many others.

Not only famous artists, showmen and intellectuals came and visited Luca’s Salon, but also world-class coiffeurs like the International Art Director of the Vidal Sassoon Academy Tim Hartley, the well-known hair stylist Gerry Santoro, a delegation from the three-time winner of “British Hairdressing Awards” Hob, the owner of the International brand “Tony & Guy” Antony Mascolo, fashion designers from Moogany (forse è Mahogany?) and Tony Rizzo, hairstylist and owner of Sanrizz Salons.

Luca started attending professional training courses in London at the Vidal Sassoon Academy thus living out his dream of getting familiar with the technique that had made him fall in love with the craft of hairdressing some years earlier. Luca’s artistic and styling skills improved greatly. He started realising that marketing, communication and administrative principles could be applied to the hairdressing sector in order to create a synergy between fashion, creativity and business. His insight let him consider the salon not merely as a place where hair is cut and dyed, but a dimension where customers’ needs are met by offering high quality services and products.

In January 2007 a trend scouting in New York City supported Luca’s intuition. On that occasion Luca, Katia and their daughters met representatives from cutting-edge salons with 80 employees and able to attract customers up to the fifth floor of the Fifth Avenue thanks to focused marketing strategies and to a reception which plays a central role in boosting sales. In short, a new vision for the hairdresser’s job began to take shape.

Coming back from that journey, Luca and Katia set their mind to make the difference in what they did, but in the meantime many other important events came in quick succession.

In 2005 Luca and Katia worked for “Eclettica”, a biennial project run with the Modena Museum of Modern Art. The project resulted in the realisation of a painting which combined modern art and the world of hair styling, a unique masterpiece that has been displayed at the MoMA in New York City.

In 2006 the faculty of Economics of the University of Pisa elected Luca Piattelli’s Salon as a case study to analyse its geomarketing. What surprised most the scholars was how a little salon located in a small town of the Tuscany countryside could attract such a huge number of clients and have an exponential growth. The study resulted in a thesis by a student of the faculty of Economics.

In 2007, in addition to the trend scouting in New York, Luca won the Hair Stylist National Championship in Milan, and in the same year he competed for the World Championship in Barcelona as the only Italian representative.

Luca achieved important recognition not only for his artistic and creative talent, but also for his business expertise. In 2006 he won the award for “Hairdresser of the Year” in Lucca.

In 2007 he won the award for “Hairdresser of the Year” for the second time in a row, he was appointed as vice-president of the “Young Entrepreneurs of Lucca” Association and he was honoured as “Magnificent Excellency” by the government of Tuscany for increasing hiring on the territory thanks to his business activity. In the same year he joined the “Lions Club Antiche Valli Lucchesi”.

IIn 2008 Luca and Katia got the Global Salon Business Awards in Hollywood by the UCLA University in California as the best salon in Italy in the matter of doing business in the hair styling sector.

Luca and Katia drew inspiration from all these experiences for a new project which would let their modest salon stand out and make it a unique place. Keeping in mind customers’ needs and making them the real focus of business, they opened up to the idea of creating a salon where customers’ specific demands were met and in which all types of clientele were welcomed, from families with children through to singles seeking relax, from those in a rush through to those who chase perfection. That’s why in 2012 this idea became reality and in April the New Salon was inaugurated – 600 sq. m and a lot of new services and offers.

The New Salon has three areas: hairdresser, beauty and relax. Its location in the Tuscany countryside is strategic and easily reached, as it is right off the highway at the crossroads of various provinces.

Since 2012 the Salon has been growing and expanding exponentially, thanks to the fact that it has stayed focused and stuck to its targets: professionalism, customer satisfaction and innovation.

Along with this new salon Luca and Katia have brought about new ideas like Sunday openings, soirées, last minute services offered through social networks, and the Academy, which transmits the knowledge, the values, the expertise and competences acquired and developed through the many years in business.

More recognition to Luca’s work has come in these years. Among the others the Best Italian Salon award - which was won for three years in a row, the Productive Activity on the Territory – received by the Municipality of Chiesina Uzzanese, the “Fiore d’Argento” national award for the artistic talent, the award for “firm with the greatest business development” received by the Association of the Industrial, the “Magnificent Excellency” designation - honoured by the government of Tuscany, and the National Ambassador Schwarzkopf Professional recognition. Luca Piattelli has also taken part in fashion TV shows and programmes, like the reality “Tacco 12”, and in talk shows to discuss about the idea of fashion and beauty nowadays.

Luca takes also part actively in high-fashion shows in Milan and in occasion of the Fashion Week he lends his expertise for creating the models’ hairstyles.

Today Luca Piattelli Salon boasts 40 employees thus contributing to enhance employment on the territory, and at the same time the Academy enhances job prospects for many others.