In the heart of London’s Angel, step inside the retro hair wonderland leading the gender neutral salon revolution.
Take a prime London location, fill it with the dreamiest campest 1950s-style pastel kitchen interiors (faux Smeg fridge doors and all), a French bulldog named Gaston snoozing on a chaise longue in the front window, plus two fairy godmothers with transformative hairdressing skills, and you’d land at something like Kitch.
Sitting in the heart of Angel, Islington, the intimate neighbourhood salon is the brainchild of hair whizzes and partners Luca Jones and Scott Humphreys – whose intention for Kitch is a safe space for all (including the LGBT community), championing self-expression and creativity, free from any judgement. Between them, the pair bring to the Kitch-en Luca’s 24 years of experience styling celebs and on Strictly Come Dancing, plus Scott’s Soho barbering roots.
And fun is at the top of the agenda, right down to the Instagrammable décor, with vintage-style cereal and soap boxes flanking the stairwell up to the barber’s area, the reception desk twinning as a spinning lilac washing machine, and the colouring trolleys as candy-coloured ovens that pull out from the walls.
Gender neutral, vegan and also universally-priced (based on hair length, time and products not gender), take one step across the retro checkerboard linoleum tiles and it’s clear that inclusion is at the beating heart of the establishment – think vibes akin to a late night getting your hair done in your best mate’s kitchen, glass of wine in hand, where inhibitions are low and the chat is free-flowing. Out the window with the old-fashioned and narrow-minded barbershop mentality – and in? Obviously, just gorgeous barnets for all, crafted lovingly in a luxury salon with the fragrance of the sulphate, paraben and cruelty-free range from Kevin Murphy hanging in the air.
And it’s no surprise that locals, regulars and celebs have already been flocking to Kitch’s mint-green doors, with the likes of Emily Atack, Gorka Márquez, Tayce, Karen Hauer, Janette Manrara, Ranvir Singh, Matt Evers and Aljaž Škorjanec having already given the salon’s comfy leather chairs a spin.
