Credentials
2001 – 2005
European Training
Trained intensively across Mannheim, London and Vienna — five years building a foundation that most hairdressers never get.
2003 – 2006
Trainer, Headquarters Academy
Worked as a trainer at one of Vienna's most respected hair academies before returning to Malaysia.
2007 – present
Founder, Hairkunst
Built Hairkunst from a single location at The Curve into Malaysia's premier hairdressing brand, with salons in KLCC, Mont Kiara and Shah Alam.
2010 – 2012
Schwarzkopf Brand Ambassador
Selected as the only Bumiputera hairdresser to represent Schwarzkopf across Asia — Malaysia, Shanghai, Vietnam, Jakarta, Hong Kong and Macau.
2013 – present
Founder, BUHA
Established the Bumiputera Hairdressing Association to ensure Malay hairdressers have a fair stake in the industry.
2018 – 2020
L'Oréal Ambassador
Appointed as L'Oréal Malaysia ambassador — one of the most recognised roles in the local hair industry.
A Career Built on Craft
Most hairstylists learn what works locally, for local clients, in local salons. Bambang went the other way. Between 2001 and 2005 he trained across Mannheim, London and Vienna, then stayed on to teach at one of Vienna's academies before coming home. Not to collect experience on a CV. To understand the underlying science that most hairdressers here had no access to: what the hair shaft actually responds to, why a colour holds for months instead of weeks, what a cut needs to do before it needs to look good.
That knowledge is what came back with him. Hairkunst opened in 2007 and became the salon other salons measured themselves against. His methods are why.
In 2013 he founded BUHA, the Bumiputera Hairdressing Association, because Malay hairdressers were being cut out of an industry they helped build. That tells you something about how he operates.
Dashing Diva is what he built next, and he built it specifically for you. Not a rebrand, not a side project. A salon designed around what Muslimah women actually need: a fully private space, an all-women team, and the same standard of work he spent two decades refining. Every stylist here trains to his curriculum. When you sit in that chair, that's what you're getting.
“Muslim women were stuck navigating a choice that shouldn’t exist — go somewhere good, and feel out of place, or go somewhere that felt right, and the quality wasn’t there. That’s not acceptable to me. So I built a third option.”
Bambang Soteto — on why he created Dashing Diva
Hairkunst
Before Dashing Diva, there was Hairkunst — the salon Bambang built from the ground up in 2007 at The Curve, Mutiara Damansara. It became the benchmark for premium hairdressing in Malaysia, and the standard every Dashing Diva stylist is trained to.
Visit Hairkunst →
The standard Bambang built Hairkunst on is the same standard Dashing Diva holds itself to — at a price point that works for everyone.