In-demand hairdressers are downsizing. Good luck getting an appointment

You could very easily, as I did, walk up and down Brewer Street several times and keep missing the doorway to Michael Douglas’s hair studio. Graffitied from top to bottom, and nestled in London’s Soho district, it could be a threshold of the less than salubrious variety. But hit the right buzzer, cross the hallway, climb a flight of stairs and you’ll find one of the grooviest hairdressing spaces you’ve ever seen — with just a single appointment chair on the premises. 

Unlike a typical hair salon that would be filled with rows of customers in chairs, Douglas’s studio, MD London, is an intimate space that allows for only one client at a time. And to get in, you need to be in the know. There’s no shopfront, no signage, and no access unless you have an appointment.

The polar opposite to the rise of the supersalons (often 5,000 sq ft or more) that we’ve seen in recent years, the counter-trend sees a move towards hair studios with no more than five chairs, where both hairdressers and clients feel less frenetic. There’s no holding pattern at the wash basins, no tight turnaround time, no sitting in foils in front of 30-plus strangers. Studio appointments are more relaxed, personal, individual — even homely. It isn’t about a “big name” above the door (though there may very well be one inside), everyone’s just there for great hair, less ego and a more personal touch.

Fiona Harkin, director of foresight at trend agency The Future Laboratory, says it’s about “this idea of self-care experiences that are really more unique to you”. Clients are looking for more intimate connections, while simultaneously “beauty and wellness are manifesting as experiences that are more therapeutic”.

The quiet move in hair studios is also the result of Covid. Clients became accustomed to having their hair done at home, where they felt relaxed and the service was solely about them. And hairdressers realised that the appointment book didn’t have to feel like a non-stop, noisy treadmill. For some, there was no way back. 

Douglas, though, was way ahead of the curve. “I’ve had a private studio for about 12 years,” he says. The initial decision was “in a way about me rather than the customer. The thing I like most about my job is the one-to-one nature of it, and I realised that when you’re working on your own with a client, you really get the person.” (Prices start from £120, mdlondon.com).

For the clients, it’s a winner too. “I’m good at my job, but they also love paying extra for the private experience — because obviously you have to charge more,” he says. Without the traditional salon booking structure and its tight schedules, he can allocate the necessary time to each appointment. 

Douglas’s studio holds none of the standard issue “luxury” salon touchpoints such as marble countertops. Even the small wash basin is situated in a corner of his office, at the back, “as that’s where the plumbing is”. But the space feels welcoming, like a living room, and is decked out in mid-century modern furniture. It also offers him flexibility with his (and his clients’) working hours, and the studio doubles up as a creative space for him to work on his hair tools range, filming brand content and YouTube videos, and hosting events such as a recent collaboration with OGX haircare.

Over in Chelsea, sought-after colourist Sibi Bolan has left the big salon world behind (she was previously master colourist at Josh Wood Atelier) and now works in a small penthouse studio (where celebrity hairdresser Ivan Ferreira also operates), which can host a maximum of five clients but usually has fewer. Again, there’s no street visibility, so the uninitiated are oblivious to its presence. Even the Instagram account is private. Only those with an appointment are allowed past the front door. 

After the pandemic, Bolan sought to step away from “the relentlessness of the salon production line, lots of other chairs and clients, not being able to give that client the full attention and a bespoke service”. She found that her clients too wanted something different after lockdowns. “A lot of them were asking if I could still go to their house, or they could come to mine, but I didn’t want to be washing hair over the bath or for my private space to be littered with hair dyes.” Studio life was the answer. 

Big salons may offer a more luxurious environment but “the clients don’t care about that. They care about the attention to detail and walking out looking great with healthy hair,” says Bolan. “We also have a lot of socialites and VIP clients that appreciate the privacy. People don’t actually need the bravado of a huge salon, they just want to be in their own space, able to work and enjoy their time in a less noisy, open environment.” Many hang out before and after appointments, working or taking calls, adds Bolan, who now runs a waitlist via her Instagram (@sibibolan_colour) and integrates new customers when she has availability (prices start from £235 for single colour).

Bolan can’t imagine going back to a traditional salon environment and neither can Georgia-Fearn Ball of Fluff Hackney. Now going solo with the venture, she set it up with a fellow hairdresser as a two-chair studio, both preferring to be self-employed. 

Going the studio route wasn’t a financial decision but about creating a different kind of hairdressing environment. “I always wanted it to feel relaxed, like a home from home, a friend’s place where you go for a catch-up, somewhere you can bring your laptop and work,” she says. Clients from her old salon followed her to the studio (located in a large warehouse), enjoying the community feel (cuts start at £68, fluffhackney.com). “It’s completely word of mouth — no one passes by, you can’t walk in, and you need to buzz or know the code for access.” 

Things are going so well she’s moving and upsizing to four chairs — but says she’ll go no higher. “Clients love being more private and able to chill. Being in a standard salon can be quite exposing and your care can get swapped around. Here I do everything, even the basin. It’s super-quality time with someone.” Success may have been “a slight accident” but now it’s definitely a case of go small or go home.

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