Where it all began...

The original Paul Mitchell® brand is famous around the world for its black and white bottles. However this wasn’t a decision built on branding or style preference. As John Paul tells it, he and Paul were ready to launch Paul Mitchell Systems, their hair product company on half a million dollar loan from vice president of Citicorp in France when the loan suddenly fell through.

The pair, contemplating their future over 99 cent pancakes at the freeway café on LA’s Cahuenga Boulevard, decided to forge ahead with the $700 they could scrape together between them. The story has often been told of how the $700 went to the artist who designed the packaging and gave them a $300 discount on a $1000 job.

Initially, John Paul Mitchell Systems® faced many challenges. According to John Paul: “We should have gone bankrupt perhaps 50 times during the first year.” Resources were so limited that the Paul Mitchell® brand’s now-famous black and white packaging was a result of not being able to afford colour ink.

At one point, the company consisted of a post office box and an answering machine with a female friend (with an English accent) producing the message recording to convey that there was, indeed, an ‘office.’ 

However, the partners had a unique and winning strategy - a company-building plan that stemmed from their convictions. Mitchell and DeJoria travelled extensively to conduct no-cost product demonstrations for salon owners.

They guaranteed salon owners would sell all products purchased; if they didn’t, they could return any unsold products for a full refund. Such practices represented a first for the hair care industry, and eventually led to John Paul Mitchell Systems® becoming one of the fastest growing privately-held companies in the United States.

Launching Paul Mitchell® in the UK in 1987 through the 3·6·5 Education network of salons was a turning point for the brand; carving out new paths in the British hairdressing scene that would have lasting effects.