The 1980s were the golden age of the hairdresser, with women required to visit the salon every six weeks to maintain their Madonna mall banged permed stacks, Princess Di bobs, Billy Idol bleaches, upswept Pat Benatar short cuts, and over bleached Dynasty blondes.

It was the golden age of hair shows, too, with every new and tenured hairdresser required to constantly upgrade their skills.

Apprenticeships were a dominate way to learn the skills, and every stylist needed to know the heightened mechanics of the business, including Balayage, stacked perms, Velcro sets, chignon and plaited event hair and, of course, at least 2 or 3 differing schools of cutting hair. It was absolutely crazy and loads of fun.

There were competing schools of hairdressing with a variety of looks to show for it. Those that taught these varied methods were, like this author, booked solid teaching seminars and performing at hair shows.

The good days went away with the mudslide that was grunge and the 9 year run of the atonal hair popularized by the TV show Friends. Women stopped coming to the salon on a regular basis and would show up randomly to get an inch cut off. Gone, also, were the finished glamour techniques of the past.

But the wheel of fashion grinds the grist of public demand. Recently, icons such as Oribe have seen a resurgence of their previous success.

Women are again interested in wearing their hair as fashion. The new generation of adults that came out of Goth and Emo want their hair to shine their light and to show off their interest in culture as fashion.

The glory days are back and better than before. Seasoned hairdressers with the ability to relearn and teach are in renewed demand. Stylists like Vivian MacKinder and Philip Wilson are getting thousands of hits on their websites and being swarmed at hair shows by a generation of stylists wishing to become polished professionals.

Once these students learn any new thing, they immediately turn it inside out and create something new for their invigorated clients. Then they turn to their own audiences and teach it.

The Capelli d'Oro website is dedicated to these younger innovators such as Johnny Lavoy, Zahir Ziani and Michael Shaun Corby. The circle of fashion turns yet again.

One such seasoned practitioner of reinventing the voodoo arts of finished hair design is Jon Clifford, once a highly regarded stage swami of the 1980s and 1990s. As a matter of fact, Jon never left the stage or education, but continued on a straight path through the 2000s to becoming one of the most knowledgeable and entertaining artists of the early 2010s.

Jon Clifford hosts his own website, Hairscool.com, teaches at a San Francisco hair academy and traveling to and from Laos to train young hairdressers with a Laotian Charity that rescues trafficked women. Prior to these pursuits, Jon taught and worked at the Philip George Salon, one of the top salons on the Hong Kong islands.

Recently Jon performed his crafts at a Gold Club of Goldwell to benefit the victims of the earthquake in China. We met up with Jon to talk about his experiences and his take on the resurging interest in the art of professional hairstyling.

Jon: One of my most pleasant surprises in Hong Kong was the absolute commitment of the students. We could work well into the night every day and there was never one complaint. They had vast knowledge of our industry, the legends and the trendsetters, and they were extremely current in their fashion sense.

J: The lack of hairdressing schools surprised me. There were some, but usually very expensive for the youth of Hong Kong. Most students were on an apprenticeship program, so I think the whole industry is motivated, at the entry level, by a large amount of desire and sacrifice. Once the program is over for these young stylists the competition is extreme to say the least. You must get better, and quickly so, to succeed.

J: The dim sum on weekends is my favorite food memory. Roast pork and barbeque duck hanging in restaurant windows always pulled me in. Soup and noodle shops and good ol' British left over cuisine from colonial days; including egg tarts put more weight on me than any other time in my life!

J: I lived on Lantau Island and had great espresso every morning in an English coffee shop and on warm nights would sit and float in the warm sea on a deserted beach. Ahhhhh.

I really liked the Blend of western and Asian cultures and the way that they seem to tolerate each other, but somehow need each other.

J: I am a Senior Instructor at Marinello's - a San Francisco hair academy. I think that working with these kids keeps my mind and attitude somewhat young! I teach at night and Saturdays, which allows me to work with my clientele and to do classes for Hairscool.com.

I teach all my students the necessary requirements to, of course, pass their exams but I work to really expand on their salon skills and professionalism.

J: The academy students are of all ethnic backgrounds and come from different countries. Also, I see students from all differing socioeconomic groups and levels.

J: I started Hairscool.com because I felt that there was a huge need for haircutting education.

I wanted to give both students and stylists more skills to be used on a daily basis .The hair cutting education in your average hair academy is very limited and I felt that it was unfair to send a new stylist onto the streets to try and build a business, without a comprehensive knowledge of our craft.

Don't get me wrong: there is good cutting education out there, but it is not necessarily financially viable for the average new stylist on a limited income.

With this in mind, I decided to start offering a discount to current students and give group classes to keep the costs down. Money is definitely a big issue in today's economy and young stylists are having a tough time. Anything I can do to keep quality in our industry is hugely satisfying for me.

J: I think that the future of the web is tied to the future of the hair industry. I can't tell you how many quality educators and legends that I have met through Facebook alone! What a great medium for marketing and support. I can't imagine what we did before all this technology but I suppose we just relied on a good "do" and word of mouth.

J: I often bring it up to my classes that there is a PR agent inside your laptop! You can market yourself and your work for nothing! Never before have we had such access to a wide audience as with the Internet. Now we have to be better than average to really shine right? Competition is a great thing. Not only for stylists but everyone in our industry.

From the massive conglomerates, all the way down to the street stylist we are all affected by this new media. And we must use it to promote ourselves and what we do.

J: My favorite location for education on the web is YouTube. What can you not find there? YouTube is such a huge resource of education, tips and techniques and it is available 24/7. If you don't know how to do it you can find it on YouTube.

J: When I was working in Hong Kong I was introduced to someone working with the AFESIP project in Laos. Before this meeting, I had never really thought that there might be this kind of need or that people rescued from human trafficking - work in the sex industry - were being given vocational training. I was impressed that they were being taught how to do hair!

J: With my years of teaching and my love of South East Asia how could I not be involved? The training program at AFESIP Laos emphasizes somewhat basic skills, but teaches as much as possible about hair and the hair business so that the students can go home and start their own business.

The goal is to return them to their villages and to become self sufficient. The project has technological limitations, but any shortcomings are made up for with the caring of the staff and the determination of the students.

The people are so gracious and thankful and that is what motivates all who participate! There are no divas here!

J: I will be returning to Laos in late October this year and hopefully will have the company of a legend in our Industry but cannot name him until he confirms with me.

Currently, I am trying to find educational supplies. Books, DVD's etc that can be used by the students would be very appreciated. I will carry as much materials as I can when I return to Laos.

Anyone interested in helping can contact me at jon@hairscool.com. All inquiries are welcomed.

J: Well, well, well what will the next few years bring? Health is first on my list! I want to keep traveling, and continue to help the rescue work in Laos. I want to train more stylists and gain a higher respect for our Industry in the USA. I would love to get a nice opportunity working platform again, or working with a major manufacturer giving back to charities and communities.

I really love the program that Maurice Tidy is involved with, where he is giving free haircuts to the unemployed in and around Charleston, South Carolina! What a great idea.

J: The thing I, and everyone who loves our business, wants most is to experience the consciousness of hairdressers raised towards helping others less fortunate. Give help to others, because one day you might need it yourself.