A little more about me...
Visiting the Face, “Culture Shift’ exhibition, at the London Portrait Gallery was like stepping back in time obviously, but also reminded me - quite viscerally- about why the energy and freshness of this 90s aesthetic has always resonated, a break away from the rigidity of the 80s which was so ‘done.’ That picture of Bjork with her son, a young Kate Moss, Rosemary Ferguson on the sofa…images which revolutionised the language of fashion and portrait photography and feel as fresh and relevant today as they did back then. And in many ways, that was the basis of my own UNDONE philosophy towards hair. Back then, the perm and blow dries ruled, and the cut came second.
My mum would walk out of the salon with this amazing bouff, but for the next five weeks it would look diabolical because she couldn’t recreate that look at home. That made me think a lot about how I wanted to help women feel like they could do their own hair. To have some agency.
I started off in Bristol at my friend Emma’s salon before moving to London. It was the early 2000s and hair was being ironed. I think I even had a Rachel. I don’t think there were curling tongs in the city but I began scrunching, twisting and liberating hair from its limp straightjacket. If your hair is cut well, you should TOTALLY be able to style it from home and that’s what I set about trying to ensure.
But here’s some more about me and how I got into hair....
I was born in Luton. My nan was a mobile hairdresser and I grew up with the smell of perm lotion permeating everything. I was also fascinated with the relationships she had with her clients – the chat, the drinking tea, eating cake…boy was there cake and did they like to chat!!!
Her name Tess is tattooed on my fingers. I was very close to her and ultimately followed in her footsteps. I was shy as a child and I was beginning to understand that I was different, with regards to my sexuality and this always felt like a safe space.
I opened a salon in my parents’ loft and permed the local kids’ hair…I loved making hair curly and would create mini shoots - Madonna at the time was a huge influence. I was fascinated by hair, but at the same time, I was also trying to not ‘out’ myself as being gay and I thought that being a hairdresser was a nod to the world that I was indeed gay.
I was also really into the performing arts at school and had played Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at school, and really loved how expressive it was. Drama school was the less ‘gay’ option although very quickly realised that the competitiveness I found there wasn’t my thing at all.
I then moved to Bristol and fell into hotel management which was very un-creative but I learned how a business should be run which has proved invaluable. I also take my hat off to anyone who works in hospitality, because it’s full on and very long hours. I became friends with a woman called Lisa who lectured at a hairdressing school and she offered me some lessons. I remember thinking - knowing even - that this is what I wanted to do and realising that I had suppressed the urge along with my sexuality. I went round to her house with a doll in my hand and she told me that I was a natural and I needed to do this. I enrolled in a part time hairdressing course in Bristol. There was no looking back.
I think I knew deep down I wanted to be a hairdresser. I’ve always been good at intuiting what clients wanted, even if they couldn’t articulate what they did which is a big part of what we do now in the salon and i'm proud to say that the team is trained to be able to do that too.
Meeting Emma Choremi was a really big turning point in my life. Emma was the owner of the hairdressers, McQueens in Bristol and she offered me a job even though she didn’t have one to give me. She has remained a very good friend – we have the same sense of humour and perspective on life. She very much threw me in at the deep end. I created quite a buzz in Bristol giving everyone burgundy and blonde striped hair and channelling Geri Halliwell who was huge at the time. I’m very grateful that she saw something in me.
Finally, I was doing the job I wanted to do and I was dressing how I wanted to (in dungarees with punk hair and extensions) and able to express myself completely. Oh and London was calling...
This was such a good read. Loved The Face expo and the vibe of that era. I was drafting something this morning about the salon I go to and how it builds an experience through the detail of being there, a proper brand to be a part of. Spooky timing to see this 👻
Going through some old photos of Pirton Hill and found one of my sister and she pointed you out as well. Have followed your career over the past few years, glad to see it’s all going so well