Romi Cortier

Romi Cortier (born April 6, 1963) is a Caucasian entrepreneur, artist, producer, host, blogger, and author. He is a specialized celebrity hairdresser and founder of a boutique hair salon, Romi Cortier Design.

Early life and education

Cortier was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He developed an interest in acting at an early age and performed in the lead role of Billy Crocker in his high school's musical Anything Goes. He studied interior design at UCLA's Interior Design Program and also studied acting with one of LA's finest teachers and onset coaches, Leigh Kilton-Smith. Cortier received a Rotary Club Scholarship and began cosmetology school shortly after graduation. He is a certified Feng Shui Consultant (Compass School).

Career

Cortier has an extensive experience in the areas of beauty, art, and acting. He has been passionate about fine art and architecture for over 40 years, renovating multiple homes. He serves as an executive producer and hosts a TV pilot, Artful Living with Romi Cortier, where he explores major design movements of the 20th century and discusses how it's relevant to today's world. It is aired on secondary platforms such as Go Indie TV and ROKU. He also has a YouTube channel dedicated to his art, with multiple DIY mural-making videos on YouTube where he discusses art history. His art interest led him to travel globally, attending important museum shows such as the Mondrian Exhibition at the Pompidou and the Morozov Collection at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.

Cortier became an independent stylist in his late 20s. For six years, he moved from Seattle to LA and commuted back and forth every six weeks to see clients. In 2001, he launched a boutique hair salon, Romi Cortier Design, on Larchmont Blvd. It offers a fine art gallery setting where original paintings surround clients in the photorealism style created by Romi himself, as well as his branded art merchandise. He specializes in hair color and has a huge clientele that has included Sharon Lawrence, June Lockhart, Neil Young, Bert Kreischer, Laura Prepon, Paul Wesley, LeeAnn Kreischer, Sadie Stratton, Teri Polo, Rosa Blasi, among others. Before founding his salon, he served as Salon Artistic Director at Lewis Fox Salon, Seattle, and Platform Artist at Colorly Haircolor. He has also attended advanced training classes at Vidal Sassoon, London.

Cortier is a self-taught fourth-generation artist whose paintings have been published in the book Marilyn in Art. His paintings are also in private collections all across the United States. He contributed to the Portraits of the Fallen Memorial Project and published a book, The Art of Romi Cortier. Cortier maintains a blog, Where Art Inspires Beauty, dedicated to art, architecture, interior design, his global travels, favorite art exhibitions, and things that inspire him. He has been featured in Glamour, InStyle, the LA Times, and several other magazines.

In 2023, Cortier joined politics with a mission to serve the community and was elected as a business representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. He was also elected Board Member for the Larchmont Boulevard Association in Hancock Park.

Personal life

In 2019, Cortier married his husband, Recio Young, in Venice, Italy, in the Ridotto Ballroom at the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal. He designed the entire event in nine months, including the sheer dinner tablecloths, fringed centerpieces (featuring his artwork), and turquoise brocade pillows for the sofas.