The bright stuff: as Soho welcomes its own Bleach salon, we take a look at the evolution of loud locks

The Dalston salon that brought rainbow hair to the masses is giving Soho a serious blast of colour
Colour run: Bleach will be taking its trademark dip-dyeing style to a new salon in the West End
Charlotte Rutherford
Emma McCarthy11 August 2015

Do you remember a time when the sight of a girl with pink hair would elicit some sort of reaction? Perhaps some whispered comments? A few turned heads? Or even a raised eyebrow? No, neither do we.

So prolific is the cult of dip-dyeing in the capital that most of us now fail to notice that another person’s hair doesn’t register on the natural colour scale.

But hold onto your sunglasses because the future is about to get even brighter for the capital’s technicolour troops. Alex Brownsell and Sam Teasdale — the brains behind Dalston’s hair institution Bleach and the pair almost single-handedly responsible for the capital’s en-masse adoption of rainbow-tinted tips — are preparing to extend their colouring brushes beyond the outskirts of E8 right into the heart of W1.

Think pink: the trend for bright hues comes from youth culture
Charlotte Rutherford

In two days’ time, Soho’s Berwick Street will welcome its very own Bleach salon. Cue even more pastel-tinted ’dos popping up on inner-city streets and in office blocks the capital over. But even with the acceptance of dip-dye hair jobs in mainstream culture, is Soho ready for its first taste of Bleach? “Absolutely,” says Teasdale. “Soho has an inspiring history as a place for poets, punks, and creative energy to mix and mingle. Hopefully we can contribute something to that history.”

As with all the best origin stories, Bleach started life in a kitchen. “We used to host hair parties,” says Brownsell, who was working as a session stylist at the time, “with tons of people all helping out and making new colours and trends.” From there, best friends Brownsell and Teasdale (then a creative talent agent) decided to move up Kingsland Road and open a two-chair pop-up salon in the back of WAH nail bar — or as Brownsell describes it, a “Dalston dive bar hair shop”. “We wanted somewhere we could hang out, do friends’ hair and experiment with colour and styles in a way you’d never see anywhere else.”

Of course, such a loud approach to hair colour was never destined to stay secret for long. Five years and a full salon expansion later — along with a concession in the basement of Topshop’s flagship Oxford Circus store, a line of DIY dye products and even a pop-up bar on Kingsland Road (serving cocktails with names such as Wonky Direction in honour of Sam’s twin sister Lou Teasdale, the official hair stylist for 1D) — and the Bleach hair revolution has come to define a generation of post-noughties London.

Not just for the girls: men are now embracing bold and bright hair colours too
Charlotte Rutherford

But neither Brownsell nor Teasdale could have predicted the pace at which the trend took root. “We never anticipated this style of hair colour and dip-dyes going so mainstream,” says Teasdale — a fact she attributes to the capital’s irrepressible creativity. “London has a really exciting energy that feels very much rooted in street style and youth culture,” she says. “Young people here are not afraid to express themselves and be bold with their personal style, letting their individuality shine. Colouring your hair and trying different things naturally plays a part of that.”

Of course, it helps that practically every It girl in the capital, from Lily Allen to Pixie Geldof to Florence Welch, have all taken a turn in the salon chair. Last week, Brownsell transformed Georgia May Jagger’s tresses with “an all-over, faded-pastel, rainbow glam-grunge style” — one of her favourite looks of the moment.

So what should those wanting to be at the forefront of all things follicular book in for? “We’re experimenting with new ways to mix colour with the natural look of the Seventies, which is an aesthetic and era we’re obsessed with right now,” says Brownsell. “All-over bold and bright colour for boys is big, too, and we definitely see that continuing.”

Instaglam: Georgia May Jagger premiered her new look on social media
instagram/georgiamayjagger

As for the new Berwick Street salon, sandwiched between Gosh! Comics and the FoxCroft & Ginger café, it seems the duo have taken careful measures to ensure they fit in with central London culture. “It’s a little bit less DIY than our Dalston shop and more grown-up, modern and directional,” says Brownsell. “We wanted to capture the youth spirit, fun and rebelliousness that our brand is all about, but translate that in a way that still feels chic and accessible for the Soho set.”

Masterminded by set designer (and Brownsell’s flatmate) David White, the salon draws inspiration from a gallery space with a clean, open plan and warehouse-style, exposed piping and floors plus bespoke pink Lucidi polished-concrete surfaces and a stark white backdrop splattered with brightly coloured paint. The result is a more modern and refined take on the brand’s previous ventures, which are often littered with My Little Ponies, Barbies, Troll dolls and other paraphernalia lifted straight from a pre-teen girl’s bedroom.

But the Soho salon isn’t without its quirks. The colour-mixing dispensary doubles up as a bar — handy for new customers in need of some Dutch courage before turning their tresses turquoise — while the space also houses private VIP booths for its extensive celebrity clientele.

So, after they’re done conquering Soho, what’s next for the Bleach brigade? “Taking over the world,” says Teasdale. “Europe, America, Japan and beyond. Watch this space.”

Bleach Soho opens on Wednesday at 2 Berwick Street, W1 (020 7734 9009, bleachlondon.co.uk)

Read More

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in