Josh Wood's atelier, a different kind of hair salon

Josh Wood, Global Creative Director for Redken tells us more about his salon.

How would you describe your studio and can you tell us how it contributes to your creation?

Josh Wood: My atelier in London… is a crazy place, it was created really as my workshop. When I first opened the atelier doors 5 years ago, there were actually 6 chairs. And that was to accommodate me and my assistant. It’s a closed door policy and that doesn’t mean everyone isn’t welcome! But I wanted a space that, if I was working on a creative project for Redken, or for Guido x, or for the art world that I sometimes work in, I could close the door, not be disturbed, and that day we may not take clients.

The atelier has grown today, we’re now over 4 floors, we have over 30 chairs, we have a studio where we do photographic work, my office is there, my creative studio is there and I think it actually has become something of a creative hub. Certainly in London, lots of hairdressers that are working in the film world or the editorial world, session world, gravitate towards the freedom and the support that the atelier can offer. I have a team of people looking after me that enable me to do my clients in London, travel the world with my clients, work on the fashion shows, work with Guido, work with Redken and that support team we’ve developed and grown to support others that want a similar career path. I have to say, I think they must be mad, but that’s just me!

The atelier has become a space that people want to rent for events, when we close the doors at 6 o’clock people have asked if they can have parties there. I think one of the best remarks that a journalist said to me was: “I haven’t felt the energy, the creativity of a space like this since I was in Andy Warhols’ factory in New York”.

It’s incredible skills delivering colour in a way that surprises the client, it’s infusing everything we learn in the fashion world, in the art world. And when I’m even working with R&I and thinking about new formulations or ways to use colour. That energy becomes a process of osmosis, it trickles down and drips down: when I’m crafting a colour in the atelier, there’s just something different about it by the nature of the fact I’ve been exposed to very different creative disciplines.

I love my atelier, I get sad when I’m not there for a period of time, I love the team of people that are there, and I think if anything, the atelier and the way that we evolve the look and feel of the atelier: different art installations, we invite sculptors or painters to create a mood for the atelier, flowers, the way that once a month I ask my Client Service Director to completely redress the way front of house looks. It has to evolve, it has to look different, it cannot stay stagnant and I really believe that this kind of outlook of curating a space that happens to be a salon is a way to keep clients motivated, excited. They actually become our best marketing or advertising tool. Because they come and they feel different and they see different things and they take that message with them and that seed of excitement and actually the word of mouth is the thing that develops a tribe, and a gang, and a clientele.

I think the ability to use the space that I’m in, to express myself on many many different levels… We are fortunate enough that we have a full time chef and I travel the world and come back with menus and I say I want to infuse different elements into the experience of the atelier. I think ultimately drives my client to feeling that every time they visit for a colour it’s a different kind of experience which I think makes them feel it’s a more modern approach and within that modern approach that makes one’s hair feel different. So for me a creative environment makes for a creative end result.

Thank you very much!

Thank you so much!