Who Really Invented Hair Straighteners? The Story Behind the Hershesons Claim
By Zoltan — hair straightening and smoothing specialist, Mayfair, London
Let me start by saying this: Hershesons are, without question, one of the finest names in British hairdressing. Iconic London salons, superb professional stylists, decades of fashion week and red-carpet work — they've earned every bit of their reputation, and as a fellow London hairdresser I have enormous respect and admiration for what the Hersheson family has built.
So when their website says they invented the first professional straightening irons — with Daniel Hersheson rethinking straightening tools in his London salon in the 1990s and launching their first iron in 1999, two years before GHD arrived in 2001 — it's a claim worth taking seriously. But is it true? Did Hershesons really invent the hair straightener? The honest answer is: not quite — and the real history is fascinating.
The real history of hair straightening
1872 — Marcel Grateau, Paris. The French salon owner most often credited with the first heated styling irons. His heated rods, used with styling creams, could straighten or wave hair — though they frequently scorched both hair and scalp.
Early 1900s — the hot comb era. Ada Harris of Indianapolis patented a heated hair straightener with a comb portion and flat pressing faces — remarkably close to the modern flat iron. In 1909, Isaac K. Shero patented a simplified version using two heated flat irons pressed together, and history largely (and unfairly) handed him the credit. Around the same period, Madam C. J. Walker built an entire haircare empire around hot-comb straightening, becoming America's first self-made female millionaire.
1912 — Lady Jennifer Bell Schofield. She refined the design into a two-plated, hinged heated iron — essentially the blueprint for every straightener sold today.
1980s–90s — the modern flat iron. As straight hair came back into fashion, manufacturers put heated plates inside insulated plastic handles, and the tool we all recognise took shape.
1999 — Hershesons. Daniel Hersheson launched the brand's first straightening iron, developed by stylists, for stylists.
2001 — GHD. The brand that turned ceramic straighteners into a household name across the UK.
So is the Hershesons claim true?
Strictly speaking, no — nobody in the 1990s invented the hair straightener. Hinged, heated flat irons had existed since 1912, and heated straightening tools since 1872. The true credit belongs to pioneers like Marcel Grateau, Ada Harris, Madam C. J. Walker and Lady Schofield — several of them women whose names were nearly erased from the record.
But here's the thing: what Hershesons actually did is arguably more impressive than the marketing line suggests. In 1999 — two years before GHD — they developed a straightening iron built specifically for professional salon use, refined by working stylists at the very top of the industry. That's not inventing the wheel; that's taking a century-old tool and perfecting it for the modern salon floor, which is exactly what world-class hairdressers do. If anyone in Britain was going to lead that charge, it makes perfect sense it was Hershesons — few salons anywhere understand great hair better. "We invented the first professional straightening irons" is marketing shorthand, yes, but the achievement behind it is genuine, and it's part of why London remains a hair capital of the world.
Straighteners vs. professional hair straightening treatments
Here's the part most people miss: even the best flat iron — Hershesons, GHD or otherwise — only gives you straight hair until the next wash, or the next drizzle of London rain. If you're straightening your hair every single day, you're layering heat damage on top of heat damage, and that's where frizz, breakage and dullness come from.
That's why, in my Mayfair salon, I focus on professional hair straightening and smoothing treatments that work with your hair rather than fighting it daily:
Keratin smoothing treatments — a keratin treatment infuses the hair with protein and seals the cuticle, dramatically reducing frizz and cutting blow-dry time. Your hair stays smooth, glossy and manageable for months, not minutes.
Permanent hair straightening — for curly or very unruly hair, professional straightening restructures the hair so it stays sleek wash after wash, with no daily flat-iron battle.
Smoothing blow-dries and aftercare — the right technique and the right straightening aftercare products protect your results and keep hair healthy between salon visits.
A quality straightening iron is a brilliant styling tool. A professional keratin smoothing or straightening treatment is a transformation — and it means you reach for the irons far less often, which your hair will thank you for.
The verdict
Hershesons didn't invent the hair straightener — Victorian and Edwardian innovators did, and the modern hinged flat iron dates to 1912. What Hershesons did do was help bring professional-grade straightening irons into the modern British salon in 1999, ahead of everyone else in the UK — and coming from a salon of their calibre, that legacy is real and well deserved.
But whichever straighteners are on your dressing table, the secret to truly smooth, healthy, frizz-free hair isn't the tool — it's the treatment underneath.
Thinking about keratin smoothing or permanent hair straightening in London? I specialise in straightening and smoothing treatments at my Mayfair salon. Book a consultation and let's find the right treatment for your hair type.