Tatura man's cutting-edge skills after 50 years of cutting hair

“People ask me when I’ll retire, but I don’t want to,” he said.

“It’s taken me all these years to get these skills — and more and more people are wanting those.

“I get just as excited — even more excited today.”

Pat has seen it all and survived all the trends.

He has trained a generation of budding hairdressers and hit the hair-heights of Europe, Rio and Bangkok as a creative director for hair-empires such as L'Oreal and Alfaparf.

“Shows are exciting — but they’re nerve-wracking to be part of,” he said.

“It’s about comparing yourself and wanting to be respected by your peers.”

Despite the dazzling career, Pat actually fell into hairdressing after high school.

He noticed a job notice on the wall of the Melbourne "employment police" and applied on a whim.

At the time, Pat was working as a trainee storeman and hairdressing was "not on his radar".

In a sign of the lifespan of his career, Pat received news of an interview by telegram — and he remembers the interview fondly.

“He asked why I wanted the job and I said, well I don’t really, I just thought I would come and have a look,” he said.

“But he liked my sense of humour and my honesty, so I got a three-month trial.”

The trial enabled Pat to realise how much he enjoyed cutting hair and he worked hard at it.

“It was very difficult because I wasn’t a natural at it,” he said.

“I found it hard to grasp at first.”

But Pat endured and a few months later a chance interview at trendy inner-city Leopold’s led to a job that kick-started his career.

He finished his apprenticeship and worked there for five years before heading to Vidal Sassoon’s London salon, where his hair education was just beginning.

“Sassoon was about mathematics; we cut shapes and understood angles, degrees and elevation,” he said.

“Some things never change and that is still the theory I teach today, that’s my fundamentals.

“We’re not artists, I don’t believe we’re artists — when it comes to a good haircut, it’s maths.”

Pat brought his scissor skills to Shepparton in 1979, where he purchased his first salon — he said it was the "perfect place" for him to start.

“It was different because people were getting used to a whole new way of hairdressing. I believe people hadn’t had that level of hairdressing before,” he said.

“It really took off because people could do their hair easily, everything just worked, the styles were definite.

“Before, it was hit and miss but what I did was very structured, with strong lines.”

His popularity and reputation continued to grow and by the late ’80s he employed 22 people across Shepparton, Deniliquin and Wangaratta.

“My passion for the industry kept growing, because I worked so hard at it, it started to come more, enabled me to grow and gave me confidence that people loved what I did,” Pat said.

Trac Iorianni’s Hair & Beauty was established in Echuca in 2005 with a partnership between Pat and Tracey Vincent — bringing together more than 70 years of experience.

Since its launch, Trac Iorianni's has added a beauty side to the salon, including skincare.

It has now grown by franchising, with its first shopfront — Divine Iorianni’s — in Shepparton.

Trac Iorianni's is known for its seamless colour blends, vibrant tones, crisp blondes and creative fashion haircuts.

Pat said for the past 15 years in Echuca-Moama the people coming through the front door were not just his clients but his friends.

“They’re my guests, we talk about personal things,” he said.

“Hairdressers are very good listeners; we build strong relationships.

“I’ve learned how to give people what they need.

“Sometimes we touch more hearts than we touch heads.

“And my clients allow me to live my passion and my dream.”