FROM geometric cuts to cornrows, Italian Giovanni Sponziello has experimented with a mass of different techniques during his 50 years as a ladies’ hairdresser. Now living in Tavistock and a recent recipient of the ‘Sole Luna‘ award, Giovanni has written about his career.

Studying the pages of ‘Diary of an Emigrant’, a book created by Giovanni that compiles his life’s work, it is instantly clear why he has been able to travel the world promoting his craft.

Proudly presenting the book, filled with high fashion photography, glowing references from bosses, poetry and even images of his pottery, Giovanni explains what led him to England.

He said: ‘I came to England in 1963 for a successful job in ladies’ hairdressing. Being an emigrant you’ve got to learn how to communicate, you’ve got to have certain qualities and be able to adapt. You have to learn the characteristics of a person to make success of your career and that’s what saw me progress well from a stylist to a manager, the best manager in the organisation, or so they told me.’

In speaking about his career, Giovanni fondly remembered particular hairstyles and experiences working in a salon.

‘I liked the style of the 1960s, I found geometric cuts interesting. Vidal Sassoon created ‘club cutting’ in the 60s, which was a technique used on English hair as it is thinner.

‘I always understood geometry having studied three years as a surveyor, I could understand the way that angles made the hair fall in different ways, that paired well with a sense of creativity.’

Giovanni has a wide range of sketches in his book, some with the angles of the hair labelled; he explains that when he first came to the country his English was not very good, so he used his artistic skill as a way of communicating with customers.

In 1979, Giovanni decided he would leave Steiner, the company in which he spent most of his career, progressing from a stylist to ultimately senior vice president, in search of a new challenge.

Also influencing his decision was the need to provide care for his son James who is hydrocephalic (suffering from water on the brain). ‘After so many years at the company I had decided to leave so that I could look after my family, James was very important. I had achieved some success but there were other people to think about.’

He advertised his services in the area and the Plymouth Co-op Society asked him to come to their salon. With a small chain of five salons, the company employed him as a supervisor.

Now living in Tavistock and cutting hair less regularly, Giovanni was keen to inject Italian food into the community; he ran a stall in the market and progressed to his own shop called ‘Sponzi’s’. He also arranged a successful Italian theme day in the Pannier Market.

He said: ‘To begin with I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fill the hall as it is so big but by the end I was running out of room!’

Giovanni now splits his time between Devon and his hometown of Sogliano Cavour in south east Italy.

He said:‘In Italy last May a guy came to my house who represented the Department of Culture (under the patronage of the Region of Puglia) and made me aware of an award I was going to receive. It was rather embarrassing.’

‘I was in Italy two weeks ago and decided to attend the presentation especially as two of the others receiving awards had passed away.’

The event, named the Grand Gala Sole Luna 2015 (sole luna is Italian for sun and moon), is held to present recognition awards to citizens of Sogliano Cavour who have excelled in various fields — for the commendable commitment and professionalism contri-buting to the cultural, social and economic development of communities. The other recipients included a doctor, for his work in medicine, and a soldier, who had fought in World War Two, for his poetry and writing.

Giovanni said: ‘It was a wonderful event, fantastic! Very controlled and organised.’

Giovanni wanted to publicise his award to highlight that he believes there are too few events in Tavistock that celebrate people and their individual successes.

He said: ‘This is not about me, it’s about the community, where hard work is recognised. I have had a wonderful past and still believe in some kind of future. I had always reached my aim, I was promoted to senior vice president of the company I worked for, I thought, why me? A peasant from the south of Italy!’