Hipster hair chain Tommy Guns and lads’ favourite Superdry isn’t a match we saw coming. But the unlikely hook-up, which sees the clothing company donating a corner of its new store on Regent Street for a unisex salon, makes a little more sense when you see the site: a stunning basement barber’s shop originally opened in 1929 by Austin Reed to cater for the grooming needs of its dapper clients.
Tommy Guns has executed a cracking restoration job here, bringing the salon’s Grade-I listed features (chrome cabinets, Vitrolite walls and stunning 1930s light fittings) to life and adding vintage barbershop chairs, loud music and a posse of tattooed cutters and colourists. It’s even shipped in a gentlemen’s barber to offer old-fashioned straight-razor shaves on site. Excitingly, Sophy Robson has a ‘Nailporn’ station and a Lash Perfect lash bar, making an oasis of contemporary and vintage chic among the checked shirts and brand-name-emblazoned T-shirts outside.