Stylist to the rich and famous
Robyn Munro talks to the Herald on Sunday’s Society Insider about a career that has taken her from five star hotels in Asia to weddings, private events and styling some very familiar faces.
Robyn Munro, in-demand hairstylist to Auckland’s wealthy and A-list, reveals that her passion for creating luxurious looks was inspired by her time as a professional singer at five-star hotels in Asia.
A swathe of powerful women about town use Munro’s services, including Zeil founder Anna Mowbray, Valocity global CEO Carmen Vicelich, Tend co-founder Cecelia Robinson, and Hartfield Jewellers owner Jodie Dick.
Munro says she has been fascinated by hair for most of her life, but it was her 15 years living in Asia, five of which she spent as a singer performing at five-star hotels in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kota Kinabalu, that ignited her passion for luxe hair.
“It was there I really got an appreciation for the dynamics of great event hair, so in 2007, I came back to NZ with a new outlook on the industry as I knew it,” she says.
“Hairdressing became a way I could help empower women to feel fabulous and confident.”
She says her move into luxury styling “happened quite organically” because of her understanding of the “importance of discretion and privacy”.
“I never intentionally set out to target a rich-listers’ demographic.”
Munro is known to be a calm presence at work, with glam squads for big occasions. She stays laser-focused on trends and nurturing the skills she needs to achieve luxe looks.
“My kit is curated from a lot of testing and sourcing. I’m not sponsored by any brands, which gives me the freedom to use what I really believe works and that will align with my luxury clients.”
Munro travelled to Kokomo Private Island for Mowbray’s 2024 Fijian wedding and styled her hair for her bridal looks, as well as the Slim Aarons-themed after-party. For the bride’s second wedding day look, knowing timing would be tight, Munro pre-made a hair bow attachment she could apply to the bride in minutes on the day.
Other weddings to receive the Munro touch include those of fashion designer Caitlin Crisp, property business owner Libby Price, and US-based talent manager Mikayla Baker.
Munro admits she still has to pinch herself when she’s flown by helicopter or accommodated in luxury hotels by clients. “I was once flown to Paris by a client needing a cut and blow wave while I was holidaying in Sweden,” she says.
The trip was courtesy of Jodie Dick, who flew Munro to Paris to attend to her hair after she finished the Camino trail.
“Robyn is so much more than my hair stylist and more than a friend, she’s family and like a sister to me,” Dick tells Society Insider.
“Every year, she attends the Ayrburn Classic with me, and has shared so many of life’s milestones with me, including weddings, special events and events I host at Hartfields.”
Munro says some of her favourite work has come from styling hair for themed parties.
“There have been neon butterflies flying around the head, glittered finger waves, creating a bird’s nest with a little bird in it, the list is long,” she says.
There have been plenty of commercial shoots too, where she has styled celebrities. Her best celebrity moment, however, was a surprise. In 2023, Munro arrived at a booking with no idea she’d be doing hair for visiting Hollywood star Natalie Portman, in Auckland for a Fifa speaking engagement.
These days, Munro operates a small salon in her picturesque part of the world, Leigh, north of Auckland, where she lives with her partner Scott.
“From there I freelance, doing private clients for business-related events and private functions. Bridal clients keep my diary locked up over the summer weekends.”
Much like her luxury styling business, Munro’s education business has also grown organically.
As well as teaching at salons throughout the country, she has been offering private one-on-one hairstyling lessons for people trying to cope with their own hair.
“It’s happened with clients being frustrated that they can’t have me there in those early mornings, when they have to make a TV appearance or speaking event abroad, and just have to be able to take things into their own hands,” she says.
“Interior designer Shelley Ferguson was an early adopter of my lesson offer, and now I just love seeing her on socials etc, looking fab.”
Munro says she and Scott have become empty nesters; her youngest daughter, Bianca, has recently moved to Miami for a cruise contract as a singer-dancer, while her eldest daughter, Claudia, has been studying in Sweden for several years and is now finishing her fine arts degree.
Clients who holiday in Europe will be happy with Munro’s new “creative” project, which will take her to Sweden for holidays once a year.
“We’ve bought a little old farmhouse in the Swedish countryside. We’ve just come back from eight weeks of gardening, painting, sewing and scraping beams, and loved every minute.”
Munro says she is living her dream life, and is planning to enjoy her youngest child’s singing on a Royal Caribbean cruise sometime this year, in between weddings.
Ricardo Simich
