Dan was born in Florence, Italy, where he started hairdressing at the age of 14. He studied and worked in Florence for 7 years before moving to London and working in several top salons in and around the West End, including Hebe, Sean Hanna and Atherton Cox, where he was part of the hairdressing team that was selected finalist for the British Hairdressing Awards. He trained at Vidal Sasoon and L'Oreal in London and Madrid and has repeatedly travelled for work as far as Prague, Geneva and Oslo.