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Celebrity stylist gives free haircuts to isolated clients

Virus Outbreak-One Good Thing-Celebrity Stylist
Posted at 4:45 PM, May 18, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-18 16:45:37-04

NEW YORK (AP) — Hairstylist Roberto Novo is best known for his long list of celebrity clientele that includes Grace Jones, Calvin Klein, Britney Spears, and Naomi Campbell.

But during the pandemic, the Argentina-born Novo, 62, has also been known for his kindness, styling hair-free for older New Yorkers while his two French bulldogs keep everyone company.

It started last summer when he and his dogs visited a client who had been isolated for months.

Virus Outbreak-One Good Thing-Celebrity Stylist
Andrew Langerman gets a haircut from Roberto Novo while friends Marena Erdogan, Elizabeth Deterville and Madelon Spier watch in Erdogan’s apartment in New York City on May 5, 2021. Novo started offering older clients free haircuts during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Emily Leshner)

Seeing how happy it made her, he asked if there were others in the building who might be interested in a hairdo.

Novo said bringing joy to senior citizens during these challenging times "doesn’t get any better than that."

Novo takes his dogs - Machitwo and a pregnant Tulula - with him to Marena Erdogan’s apartment and quickly turns her living room into a salon.

Virus Outbreak-One Good Thing-Celebrity Stylist
Roberto Novo, left, styles the hair of Madelon Spier while his two French bulldogs keep them company in an apartment Wednesday, May 5, 2021 in New York. Novo started offering older clients free haircuts during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Emily Leshner)

Erdogan's neighbor Andrew Langerman said Novo gave him his first haircut in months.

While Novo cut hair and the pups were being petted, Erdogan entertained everyone by playing tunes on her white baby grand piano.

After Novo was finished, Erdogan ordered pizzas for the group.

Novo calls his initiative "Free haircut and puppy love."