May 13, 2008 at 14:56
Viva throws the traditional concept of a hair salon out of the window and starts all over again with a clean, cool slate. Tucked away in the heart of Soho on Lexington Street, Viva My Hair may be small but it certainly has bucket loads of personality. Stepping inside you see chairs recycled from flip down theatre seats, artwork from the 1700s of wild and wonderful hair donated by Andrew Edmonds adorning the walls and quirky installation art fills the window above a selection of enlarged polaroids of their cool client base.
Relatively new, Viva opened in May 2007 but is unlike many of the chic boutique Soho salons. Viva has a very strong connection to music, with clients ranging from The Kooks and Alison Goldfrapp to Phil Bush from the Cazals who popped in whilst I was having my hair done. One of Viva's own stylists, used to DJ at the Hacienda and even cut Morrissey's hair. They have an open music policy, clients can plug in their own iPods and share music. Whilst I was at Viva I heard Bond and Disney Soundtracks, Suzy Quattro and Peaches blasted out.
Viva has a very relaxed feel, the normal stress of the salon is lost, it feels more like you are there to hang out than have your hair styled. Everyone is super friendly and the decor makes you feel more like you are in someone's living room, with it's kitsch but cool wall paper and comfy leather chairs. It's comfortable and completely unintimidating as opposed to many of the other highly polished clinical salons in the area claiming to be the new cool place to have your hair done.
When I arrived I had a flip through a huge tome filled with polaroids of previous clients ranging from teeny-boppers to rock stars. Mark Bailey, creative director of Viva cut my hair, transforming it from something not to disimilar to a birds nest dragged through a catflap backwards into a cute curly bob. I'll definately be back in a few weeks for a shape up!
Call: 0207 287 8708 for bookings.
Email: Info@vivamyhair.com
or check out: www.myspace.com/vivamyhair to check out their cool polaroid head shots.
VIVA Salon de Coiffure
47 Lexington Street
London
W1F 9AW
Words - Cassie Clarke (editorial@londonkicks.com)
Main Image - Cassie Clarke
Polaroids - Viva
London Kicks 2008
