What does Tippi Hedren have to do with the history of nail salons in America? Apparently quite a bit.

Racked senior editor Meredith Haggerty was getting her toes painted over the holidays when she saw the old-Hollywood star's face featured in the salon's promotional slideshow alongside service prices and pictures of eyebrows being waxed.

"A woman's picture pops up. Blonde with big eyes and perfect nails, this salon would like to extend its thanks to her, Tippi Hedren," writes Haggerty.

But why?

As it happens, we have the Birds star (and grandmother of Dakota Johnson) to thank for the modern manicure. Nicknamed the "godmother of the Vietnamese nail industry," Hedren's contribution to the beauty industry started after the fall of Saigon in 1975.

At the time, she was working as an international relief coordinator at an organization called Food for the Hungry. Part of her role was assisting Vietnam refugees with job training.

"We were trying to find vocations for them. I brought in seamstresses and typists—any way for them to learn something," she told the BBC. "And they loved my fingernails."

Hedren with her granddaughter Dakota Johnson (far left), daughter Melanie Griffith, and granddaughter Stella Banderas. Getty Images

One woman, Thuan Le, recalls being present for Hedren's "A-ha" moment. "A group of us were standing close to her and saw that her nails were so beautiful," she told TakePart. "We talked to each other and said they looked so pretty. I looked in [Hedren's] eyes and knew she was thinking something. She said, 'Ah, maybe you can learn nails.' And we looked at each other and she said, 'Yes, manicures!'"

Hedren flew in her personal manicurist and brought in additional support from a local beauty school to teach 20 women how to paint nails and perform silk nail wrapping. After the group received sufficient training and licensing, Hedren then helped the students to find jobs in salons across Southern California.

The ripple effect of this mini-jobs program continues to impact the industry. In 2015, 51 percent of nail technicians in the United States (and approximately 80 percent in California) were of Vietnamese descent, a ripple effect that got its start with the original 20 women Hedren helped.

"I loved these women so much that I wanted something good to happen for them after losing literally everything," Hedren said. "Some of them lost their entire family and everything they had in Vietnam: their homes; their jobs; their friends—everything was gone. They lost even their own country."

Caroline Hallemann Senior Digital News Editor As the senior digital news editor for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers everything from the British royal family to the latest episodes of Outlander, Killing Eve, and The Crown.

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