Rita Rusk

Rita Rusk (22 June 1947 – 28 December 2022) was a Scottish hairdresser. She began her training at the age of 16 and bought her own salon in the 1970s which she operated with her husband, Irvine Rusk. Rita grew the business to four salons and a training school as well as developing new hairdressing scissors and hair straighteners (the design for which she sold to Babyliss). In 1987 Rusk became the first woman to be awarded the title of British Hairdresser of the Year. She separated from Irvine in the late 1980s and in 2009 three of her salons were closed due to financial difficulties.

Life and career Rusk was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, on 22 June 1947. She was the daughter of Peggy and Francis Murphy, a car salesman, and had nine siblings. As a child Rusk aspired to become an air stewardess so she could travel the world but her first paid employment was on a fruit and vegetable market stall. The family moved from the tenements of the Gorbals to the Castlemilk housing estate, built in the 1950s, and Rusk was educated at the Holyrood Secondary School. Rusk became the first woman to win the title of British Hairdresser of the Year in 1987, jointly awarded with her husband, the pair were also the first Scots to win the title. The couple separated in the late 1980s with Irvine moving to the United States where he founded the Rusk hair care brand. Rusk was named the world's best hairdresser four times by the French magazine Metamorphose. She and her husband had lent the business £500,000 but it was in difficulties by 2009, owing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) £80,000 in unpaid tax.

Rusk's husband died in 2014 and she afterwards moved to the West End of Glasgow. She died in Glasgow on 28 December 2022, having suffered from kidney disease for a long time. Following Rusk's death the Fellowship for British Hairdressing described her as a "legend" and a "true innovator".