The inventor of the classic bob

Legendary celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon has died in his Los Angeles home, aged 84. He was reported to have been suffering from leukemia.

English-born Sassoon, whose hair salon empire stretched around the globe, is most famously known for the creating simple but striking bob haircut, one of the most enduring and timeless modern hair trends of all time and famously first seen on the likes of friend fashion designer Mary Quant.

Millions of women in the 60s embraced his low-maintenance, easy hair styles that dispensed with hair rollers, pins and hairspray to give women a new freedom beyond endless back combing and setting. This gave rise to the term "wash and wear", and heralded a new dawn for the modern working woman, who had no time for rollers.

Sassoon explored how sharp cuts and geometric angles could accentuate a women's face and cheekbones, and is credited with inventing the now classic gamine pixie cut, first seen on Mia Farrow's and still now adopted by today's young celebrities such as Emma Watson.

From his first salon in London in 1954, the businessman grew his empire in the US, going onto become a household name, launching a wide range of products. He received a CBE at Buckingham Palace in 1999.

Leave your tributes for Vidal Sassoon here.