Meet Maurice Neuhaus | Custom Wig Maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maurice Neuhaus and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maurice, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
Most people think that the most expensive part of a custom handmade wig is the human hair … when in fact it is the labor. A fully custom handmade wig can take between 120 to 160 hours to complete.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have always been creative. Being an artist is part of my DNA over my lifetime it has just been expressed in different ways and still does. It is coupled with my inert perfectionism which is a fortunate combination. When I was 18 years old I started doing drag. Driven by the desire to perfect my makeup I used to do my drag makeup a couple of times a week, analyze it and then wash it off and go to bed. Once I had achieved the level of perfection that I had desired I needed to tackle my wigs. I wanted handmade wigs with a custom handmade lace front (hairline) that looked like the hair was growing out of my head. These handmade wigs were much too expensive. So I decided to buy all the necessary tools and show up – unannounced- at Bob Kelly’s wig shop in NYC where I was living at the time. (Bob Kelly was one of the biggest wig makers. At the time his wig studio made all the wigs for Saturdays Night Live in addition to countless Broadway productions and celebrities).
I asked Bob if I could sit next to one of his workers to pick up Wig making. He refused and said “No we don’t do that”… I begged him telling him that I could also knit and crochet. He finally agreed, sat me down and showed me how to ventilate (which is the process of knotting the hair into the wig)…He said ‘practice …I’ll be back in an hour’. I did as he said and when he returned he saw that I had ventilated a whole patch of hair. (It wasn’t until I taught others later in my career that I found out that some people don’t even finish a single knot within the first hour of learning). When I got home that night, I was so excited that I sat down and ventilated an entire hairline for one of my drag wigs. Which of course was absolutely horrendous looking, but I was so proud of myself at the time.

I always strive to create the very best version of whatever I am creating. For example when I am starting a new wig or hairpiece I lie in bed thinking about, I am on the treadmill thinking about it… I think about it from all aspects from start to finish. Which technique for color placement would look best for the desired look… which direction should the hair be knotted into the wig so that it naturally falls into the desired style without much styling. What hair type from what vendor would work best here. Like an athlete who thinks about his or her performance in his head in advance. I build the entire wig in my head before I even start. I think those qualities set me apart from a lot of other wig makers.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would have dinners at Milo and Olive, Funke, Pizzeria Mozza and Avra. I would also take them to a concert at the Hollywood bowl, or the Walt Disney concert hall. We would go to the Melrose farmers market on Sundays, buy fresh produce and have a fun dinner party at our house. And on another night, drive out to Paradise Cove and have dinner on the beach while enjoying the ride along Pacific Coast Highway. (When it reopens)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Robert Brezosky who owns the relocation company QUEST.
I started out as a trained actor but it was just not happening for me….wig making used to be my ‘day job’ instead of waiting tables … he encouraged me to see my success as a wig maker and made me realize that wig making is my real calling. And sure enough as soon as I let go of my identity as an actor and focused on my wig making business….. it didn’t feel like I was swimming upstream anymore … things became easy and I was much more at peace and today I am happier than I ever was as an actor.

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Image Credits
I took all the pics except for the Vogue cover