How Did Oribe Canales Die? New Details On The Tragic Death Of Celebrity Hairstylist To J-Lo, Cher, Meghan Markle And More
He was 62.
Instagram How did Oribe Canales die? Celebrity hairstylist Oribe Canales has died at the age of 62. He rose to fame as a hairstylist before launching his line of styling products. Canales was known as one of the greatest hairdressers in the industry. He had a slew of celebrity clients including Jennifer Lopez, Meghan Markle, and Naomi Campbell. You could always find Canales at fashion week, working behind-the-scenes to design runway ready hair for Chanel's models. Canales, who lived in Miami, had been undergoing treatment for cancer in New York City. He died of cardiac arrest. His husband, Zaki Amin, revealed that Canales also had liver and kidney failure in the hospital.
1. His beginnings
Oribe Canales was born September 13, 1956 in Havana, Cuba. He was the middle child of artist Oribe Juan Canales and Gladys Miranda Canales. His family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina when he was six-years-old. When he was 16, he moved to Miami to be an actor. Two years later, he moved to Buffalo, New Yrok, where he got his hairdressing license and early experience. Eventually, he landed in Manhattan, where he worked for the famous hairdresser Garren in his Plaza Hotel salon. It was while working for Garren that Canales got a taste of the good life working with supermodels and Versace. Canales is survived by his husband, mother, brother and sister.
2. The 1980s
Oribe Canales palled around and worked with Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Linda Evangelista in the late 80s and early 90s. Canales worked alongside makeup artist Francois Nars, stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, and photographer Steven Meisel as an instrumental part of the team that defined the look of that era and built the careers of the supermodels. The look featured dramatic makeup and hair. Cindy Crawford released a statement to the New York Times upon Canales' passing, saying: “The type of hair that Oribe adored was super high-maintenance. It worked in the late ′80s and early ′90s, where more was more, and the shoulder pads were huge and the hair was big. It was beautiful, but it was definitely all about the hair. It was hair that felt larger than life, and it kind of was — it was fantasy, and I think a lot of it was the way that he saw this fantasy version of ‘woman'."
3. Jenny from the block
While tributes have been rolling in from the many celebrities and models Oribe Canales worked with, no one worked with Oribe Canales as much as Jennifer Lopez. The two met in 1997 when he started crafting her look. Alongside makeup artist Scott Barnes and stylist Andrea Lieberman, Canales introduced the world to JLo as we know her. He started styling her hair in 1997 for her debut album On the 6." Canales created many looks for Lopez, including the huge 60s inspired bouffant she wore to the Oscars in 2002. Lopez took to Instagram to post a lengthy tribute to her friend which said in part, “I was 16 on the train reading about him in Vogue, and he made such an impression on me that 12 years later, when I was making my first album, I remembered his name. Oribe and I just fell in love with each other. He was Cuban and I was a little Puerto Rican girl. He’d play with my hair and I’d dance around. I’d feel like a million bucks."
4. Salons and Haircare line
Canales worked at some of New York City's most prestigious salons before opening his own salon at Elizabeth Arden in 1991. He worked with the biggest names in fashion and beauty including Azzedine Alaia, Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Versace and Perry Ellis. He was the man behind the hair at Jacobs' famous 1991 grunge runway show. But it is Jennifer Lopez that put him on speed dial for Hollywood's A-list. Back in 2010, he told Allure, "Thank God for Jennifer!" His hair care line, simply called Oribe, is coveted by hairstylists all over the world. In fact, his Dry Texturizing Spray still flies off the shelves years after its release and is considered one of the best styling products of all time.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.