History Timeline V4

1953

THE PURSUIT FOR PURPOSE

As a teenager, Leo Passage assists in his father’s barbershop in Belgium. Leo moves to the Netherlands to apprentice in a salon owned by a friend of his father’s—the president of the Dutch Hairdressing Federation—and becomes inspired by beautiful hair and the world of competition. 

1957

AN ICON EMERGES

Leo wins more than 100 European competition awards, including the Championship of Holland in 1957 and receives an invitation to join the Dutch Olympic Hairdressing Team. Leo is later recognized by Modern Salon as one of the top 50 hairdressers or all time.

1962

THE FIRST PIVOT POINT SCHOOL IS OPENED

With a deep desire to share, Leo opens a beauty school in Chicago, offering classes to both professionals and students. He starts with five students and grows it into a network of millions around the globe. 

1965

OUR ROOTS, OUR INSPIRATION, OUR LEGACY

Leo is inspired by the teachings of the Bauhaus, the most celebrated Arts & Crafts school of the 20th century, and establishes a design philosophy for hair – The Scientific Approach to Hair Design. Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago verify and ensure correct design terminology is used in Leo’s education—utilizing terms previously restricted to the traditional design arts, such as architecture, painting and sculpture. 

1969

SHARING PIVOT POINT EDUCATION WITH THE INDUSTRY

As more and more schools ask if they can teach Pivot Point’s unique design system, Leo builds a Member School network. Approved schools that adopt the Scientific Approach to Hair Design can proudly display the Pivot Point School logo. 

1972

CREATING A BETTER MANNEQUIN

As Pivot Point’s influence grows, Pivot Point collaborates with custom hair manufacturers to design new, high-quality mannequins that are hand-implanted to mimic natural growth patterns and densities – provide the most life-like and realistic learning experience for students and professionals. 

1976

WORKING TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Leo Passage invents the first ever Slip-On mannequin. This allows the user to utilize one single head form with a variety of hair lengths, colors and textures and marks the Pivot Point’s first crucial step to creating more environmentally-friendly solutions. 

1979

SHARING PIVOT POINT EDUCATION WITH THE WORLD

Pivot Point receives permission from the U.S. government to participate in a history-making exchange with Chinese vocational educators and tour mainland China.  

Leo Passage and a crew from Pivot Point schools around the world were the first to visit mainland China after U.S. President Nixon’s famous visit, a breakthrough in education, professional exchange and international communications during the historic spring tour that opened new frontiers all over the global beauty industry. 

1980

THE NEW STANDARD FOR BEAUTY EDUCATION

Pivot Point sets a new standard for haircutting education by defining a universal design language and logical concepts to explain the “why” behind the “how.” Pivot Point’s Scientific Approach to Hair Sculpture sets a new standard of haircutting education, explaining “why” techniques produce predictable results as well as “how” to perform them. Four basic length arrangements and their combinations are identified and color-coded for consistent reference in all future libraries. Mathematics professors help develop accurate terminology that can be translated into different languages. This becomes one of Pivot Point’s most widely translated courses and its timeless concepts continue to be taught all over the world. 

1980

SEE. THINK. CREATE. ADAPT.

Pivot Point’s Modular Sculpting System is launched, an innovative hair system that begins with a head form and progresses from smaller to larger hair pieces positioned on sections  of the head, designed to teach techniques from simple to complex. The program is first released for ladies sculpture, and specifically redesigned to support each new Scientific Approach course as they are developed.

1980

MAKING COMPETITION ACCESSIBLE

Pivot Point mannequins are approved for OMC Hairworld & Worldskills competitions. This gives young designers the opportunity to compete more affordably than professionals who work with live models. Leo puts a strong emphasis on competition as a creative outlet to channel skills and challenge hair designers. Pivot Point continues to support and sponsor competitions throughout the world for students and professionals.

1988

THE FIRST ONE-STOP SHOP FOR SCHOOLS

By making education, hair and tools available in one place, Pivot Point becomes the first single-source school supplier. Our student kit options can be highly customizable and are market-tested by students, educators and professionals.

1992

A PIONEER IN TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN EDUCATION

Pivot Point pioneers video education on interactive laser disc and adds barcodes to student coursebooks and teacher support materials to quickly access specific frames, video segments and slow-motion playback. This innovative approach to education give educators control and makes it easier for students to stay on track. 

1997

COMMITTED TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children becomes Pivot Point’s charity of choice, spearheaded by Leo’s daughter, Corrine Passage, and schools participate in nationwide Cut-A-Thons to support the mission.  Pivot Point Cares for Kids™ was created to support the international efforts of the NCMEC, an organization that heightens public awareness about missing children, communicates important safety information and raises funds that will help continue the important work of the NCMEC.  Over the years we’ve raised over $1,000,000 to support the organization.

1998

RECOGNITION BY OUR PEERS

Pivot Point wins six America’s Best Beauty Industry Efforts for Salons – including Best Salon Industry Education Program, Best Print and Electronic Education, Best Direct to Salon Communication and Best Salon Industry Education.  

As one of the industry’s most-honored organizations, Pivot Point has been recognized by Intercoiffure, the National Cosmetologists Association, NACCAS, City of Hope, Cosmetology Hall of Fame, HairAmerica, HairWorld and Beauty Changes Lives, among others. 

2005

WORKING TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Pivot Point introduces Snap Cap, a more environmentally–friendly mannequin, eliminating waste and saving space. Snap Caps are designed with hollow headforms, eliminating the foam fill inside a traditional mannequin. One headform… endless possibilities. 

2010

PIONEER IN TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN EDUCATION

Artist Access, Pivot Point’s online learning system is launched. Designed for use in the classroom and at home, students and educators can now access all learning materials anytime, anywhere. 

2013

ETHICALLY-DRIVEN

Pivot Point is SA8000 certificated on all of its manufactured hair products to guard against forced labor, provide workers with safe working environments, respect the rights of workers to join unions and practice zero tolerance for discrimination. The #LookfortheTag campaign emerges to bring recognition to Pivot Point mannequins with this certification. 

2014

THE NEXT EVOLUTION OF ONLINE LEARNING

Pivot Point introduces LAB (Learn About Beauty), a groundbreaking online learning platform built specifically for the beauty industry. LAB combines best-in-class educational content with a collaborative ecosystem that supports multiple learning styles, capturing the progress of learners within a social learning platform. Communities of learners are encouraged to collaborate and share accomplishments through activities, games and feedback – blurring the lines between learning and fun. 

2015

SUPPORTING BEAUTY SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS

The Passage family establishes a $1 million endowment fund with Beauty Changes Lives in remembrance of founder Leo Passage. The fund supports student scholarships and lifelong learning to encourage students and professionals to continue their journeys in beauty and wellness. 

2016

REAL-WORLD EDUCATION

Specifically designed for the digital environment and a blended learning experience, the launch of Pivot Point Fundamentals: offers a flexible and modularized library for Cosmetology (2016), Barbering (2018), Esthetics (2020) and Nails (2022), focusing on teaching students to be successful professionals based on a comprehensive beauty education library designed for successful licensure pass rates and entry-level proficiency. Pivot Point’s extensive involvement in the professional industry helps create curriculum designed to make students more “salon ready.”

2017

REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE… RE-CAP!

Pivot Point introduces the next generation of Snap Cap, Snap Cap 2.  Utilizing ABS-recycling material and easier to use. The next generation of the sustainable headform is a space-saving, detachable hair training tool that utilizes ABS-recyclable material to help reduce waste from traditional mannequin heads. Whether perfecting your cutting, coloring, texturizing or finishing techniques, the internationally patented Snap Cap gives you the high-quality hair students and professionals have come to expect from Pivot Point. It’s now available in a wide range of lengths and textures and uses 100% human hair. 

2020

BRINGING TEXTURE EDUCATION FRONT AND CENTER

We increase our collection of texture mannequins and offer a wider range of curl patterns – from wavy to coily – so that students can build a more diverse skillset and be confident working on all hair textures. 

2020 - 2021

A BETTER TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION

To support schools during the pandemic, our new technology platform LAB 2.0 is launched. We quickly start transitioning over schools, including hundreds of new customers who had not been working with Pivot Point so that they can offer distance learning and time tracking to their students.

2021

SLIP-ON REVIVED

The educationally inspired and environmentally conscious Slip-On mannequins are brought back to Pivot Point’s comprehensive portfolio of products to add another eco-friendly alternative to traditional mannequins. The all-new launch of the re-envisioned and historically important learning tool allows up to 51 workshops in a single box. Benefits include more hair for less cost, lower shipping costs and space-saving design, and the reduction of hair waste with a specially designed curriculum flowchart.

2022

ALWAYS LEARNING FORWARD

Pivot Point is recognized by the Loyola Family Business Center for outstanding efforts on behalf of the environment, our professional community, our business partners and our employees.

2022 & Beyond

CONTRIBUTING TO A MORE JUST WORLD

Pivot Point continues our commitment to a more equitable world by providing tools and inspiration to support diversity and inclusion across our industry.  These include an industry-specific DEI-B (diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging) guide for beauty schools, a special mannequin to help beauty schools more effectively teach texture, adding additional texture content to our learning platform and launching a competition that gives beauty school students and their instructors professional industry recognition for their texture designs.