BBC Takes a Look at a Cutting Edge Hair Salon in 1980

A 1980 archival clip from the classic BBC documentary program Nationwide visits Antenna, a then-cutting edge hair salon on Church Street in the London neighborhood of Kensington, where owner Simon Forbes offered shaved hairstyles that were all the rage. Forbes also shared that he used stencils and spray paint for cars to write words into hairstyles. When asked, he responded that it worked better than salon products.

Mainly because we can get metallic colors from it which you can’t get with conventional hair coloring products and also we can get definition into the hair which you can’t do with conventional products again you tend to get a very furry effect from it.

One client was not especially thrilled with her new modern do.

I’m horrified. Very surprised. I like how it looks from the front and that’s how I was expecting it but I didn’t realize it would be so you know hedgehog like all over.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.