John Paul Mitchell Systems

The gig(s): John Paul DeJoria, 67, is co-founder and chief executive of Beverly Hills-based John Paul Mitchell Systems, a 32-year-old hair-care products line that is sold in 87 countries and logs nearly $1 billion in annual sales. The brand includes 110 Paul Mitchell schools in the U.S. DeJoria is also co-founder of the Patron Spirits Co. line of tequilas and holds interests in several other ventures. Unglamorous beginnings: "I grew up in East L.A. I didn't think it was a bad place.

The gig(s): John Paul DeJoria, 67, is co-founder and chief executive of Beverly Hills-based John Paul Mitchell Systems, a 32-year-old hair-care products line that is sold in 87 countries and logs nearly $1 billion in annual sales. The brand includes 110 Paul Mitchell schools in the U.S. DeJoria is also co-founder of the Patron Spirits Co. line of tequilas and holds interests in several other ventures. Unglamorous beginnings: "I grew up in East L.A. I didn't think it was a bad place.

John Paul Mitchell Systems Inc. in Saugus has sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, alleging that Wal-Mart is selling substandard and unauthorized supplies of Mitchell Systems' Paul Mitchell beauty products. The suit, filed in federal court in Austin, Tex., claims that a former supplier sold Wal-Mart some beauty products that Mitchell Systems had rejected because of poor quality. Mitchell Systems sells hair-care and skin-care products.

The International Salon and Spa Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center was an MTV-style affair, with pulsing music, outrageous fashions and more hair color than nature ever intended. The vast majority of the 35,000-plus attendees, mostly salon professionals, were women. Several of the men roaming the seemingly endless aisles of nail polish, brushes, mousse, gel and moisturizer were wearing skirts.

A Newport Beach man is scheduled to be sentenced today to 16 months in state prison after admitting a scheme to sell up to $1 million of counterfeit John Paul Mitchell hair products, authorities said. Joseph Frederick Thompson, 33, was charged in 1997 with selling 10 tractor-trailer loads of fake Mitchell-brand shampoo and conditioner to a New York distributor, but fled the country before he could be prosecuted.

John Paul Jones De Joria and Michelle Gilliam--better known as Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and "Knot's Landing"--first joined forces in their junior year at Marshall High. Phillips recalls that neither of them was part of the "social-climbing set" and at least one of their teachers predicted they would flunk adulthood.

The International Salon and Spa Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center was an MTV-style affair, with pulsing music, outrageous fashions and more hair color than nature ever intended. The vast majority of the 35,000-plus attendees, mostly salon professionals, were women. Several of the men roaming the seemingly endless aisles of nail polish, brushes, mousse, gel and moisturizer were wearing skirts.

A fugitive wanted in connection with an alleged scam to produce and sell $1 million worth of counterfeit John Paul Mitchell hair-care products was arrested Monday by federal agents, authorities said. Joseph Frederick Thompson, 33, was taken into custody as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, according to FBI spokeswoman Cheryl Mimura. Thompson is accused of conspiring with accomplices to sell the popular hair-care products in 1996 and 1997, Mimura said.

The motives and truthfulness of alleged victims emerged as prime issues as final arguments got under way Monday in Van Nuys Superior Court in the fraud trial of Mark R. Weinberg. Weinberg, 37, a onetime Beverly Hills commodities broker and television producer, is charged with defrauding wealthy clients of more than $1 million by diverting to his own use money they gave him for investments.

A Newport Beach man is scheduled to be sentenced today to 16 months in state prison after admitting a scheme to sell up to $1 million of counterfeit John Paul Mitchell hair products, authorities said. Joseph Frederick Thompson, 33, was charged in 1997 with selling 10 tractor-trailer loads of fake Mitchell-brand shampoo and conditioner to a New York distributor, but fled the country before he could be prosecuted.

John Paul Mitchell Systems Inc. in Saugus has sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, alleging that Wal-Mart is selling substandard and unauthorized supplies of Mitchell Systems' Paul Mitchell beauty products. The suit, filed in federal court in Austin, Tex., claims that a former supplier sold Wal-Mart some beauty products that Mitchell Systems had rejected because of poor quality. Mitchell Systems sells hair-care and skin-care products.

John Paul Jones De Joria and Michelle Gilliam--better known as Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and "Knot's Landing"--first joined forces in their junior year at Marshall High. Phillips recalls that neither of them was part of the "social-climbing set" and at least one of their teachers predicted they would flunk adulthood.

New York investment firm Broadway Real Estate Partners has purchased a 12-story tower in Beverly Hills and opened an office in the building. Broadway paid $44.5 million to Lantana Wilshire Associates for 9701 Wilshire Blvd. The 31-year-old office building at the northwest corner of Wilshire and Roxbury Drive is 95% leased to such tenants as the Endeavor Agency and John Paul Mitchell Systems, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group.

Don't even think of going out in 2000 with last century's hairdo. Richard Dalton, fashion director for John Paul Mitchell Systems, offers the following hair trends, fresh from the runway: Soft and loose. Natural and curly. Sleek ponytails. Bouffant buns. Chic upsweeps and moppy up-dos. Geometric designs. Tiny braids. * Remember Esprit, that hipper-than-all-get-out San Francisco clothing company whose fun, fresh designs took the junior market by storm in the 1980s?