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player ready...Prominent Chicago hairstylist Leigh Jones was responsible for producing the coiffures of numerous celebrities.
Over more than six decades, Jones counted Oprah Winfrey, Lena Horne, Heather Bilandic, Natalie Cole, Marlo Thomas, Barbara Eden, Deborah Norville and Essee Kupcinet among his clients. He also was a commercial hairstylist for hair products companies such as Johnson Products, Alberto-Culver, Helene Curtis, Revlon and Clairol.
“He had impeccable taste, and he knew how to make people look better and feel better about themselves,” said Shell Reyes, a friend and longtime client. “His creativity was just boundless.”
Jones, 81, died of natural causes on Sept. 20 at the Ambassador Nursing & Rehabilitation Center skilled nursing facility in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, said Renee Bradford, a longtime friend. Jones had been a longtime resident of downtown’s Printers Row neighborhood.
Born Floyd Leigh Jones in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1944, Jones moved with his family to Chicago when he was 4 years old. After graduating in 1960 from Westcott Vocational High School – now Simeon Career Academy – Jones, who started cutting his own hair at age 12, took classes at the University of Illinois Chicago, Roosevelt University and Loop College before enrolling in the American School of Beauty Culture in 1962. He earned his license to be a hairstylist in 1964.
While in beauty school, Jones was hired as the first African American to work for the noted hairstylist Jean-Luc Vercammen, who at one time was the style director of the salon at the I. Magnin department store.
Jones later worked at a variety of salons, including Darrell Whitten’s Boulevard Beauty Salon on North Michigan Avenue, Fred Glaser’s Shears and Cheers salon on the Near North Side, Maximo Salon, and, from 1971 until 1983, at Jean Pierre Coiffures at 70 E. Walton St. in Streeterville.
In 1983, Jones opened his own salon, Leigh Jones Coiffures, first at 12 E. Walton St. in the Gold Coast and then at 112 W. Oak St.
Over the years, Jones built a loyal clientele, including numerous prominent figures. A 1978 Tribune article wrote that Jones had developed a “special following,” and that he had his own large, private workroom at Jean Pierre Coiffures, where he was able to charge $75 for a first appointment.
The Tribune enlisted Jones to perform hair styling on fashion designer Donna Karan for a photo shoot. And Winfrey first became a client of Jones in late 1984 while she was hosting the local “A.M. Chicago” show, the Tribune reported in December 1984.
Jones also styled the hair for other big names, including Horne, Bilandic, Cole, Thomas, Kupcinet and others. He had plenty of regular “standings” — women with weekly hair appointments with him for many years at a time.
“If you were in his hands, you could trust Leigh to make you look your best,” said former Johnson Publishing Co. chairman and CEO Linda Johnson Rice, who had known Jones since she was 16. “He was a master colorist and stylist. And with women, he was the ultimate gentleman.”
Johnson Rice recalled Jones styling actress and singer Diahann Carroll for a cover shoot for her company’s magazine, Ebony.
“He just made everybody feel as if they were special — as if they were all-stars,” she said.
Jones eventually closed his own salon and worked part time for other salons in Chicago. Due to health issues, he stopped working in 2023, Bradford said.
Jones served as a member of the board of the nonprofit Chicago Cosmetologists Association trade group, including as its vice chair. He also served as a judge at the Midwest Beauty Show, and he took part in fundraisers for various causes, including multiple sclerosis and AIDS.
“He was one of the most loving and generous people I’ve ever met,” Johnson Rice said.
Jones also was an avid art collector.
He is survived by a brother, the Rev. Morris Jones Sr.
Services were held.
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Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.