London: home to Buckingham Palace, black cabs, Selfridges, and now, George Northwood’s new salon, which opened this week on Boundary Street in Shoreditch. Known for his work with A-listers, from Alicia Vikander and Claire Foy to Alexa Chung (whose much imitated bob is his handiwork), Northwood’s second salon in the city (the other is on Wells Street) will make his signature effortless “undone” effect easily available to east Londoners.
“It’s the next generation of George Northwood,” he tells British Vogue over the phone. “We asked ourselves what women want from a hair salon, and actually, it was simply a nice space with nice textures, finishes, and a minimalistic design. We’ve sourced a mix of 20th-century furniture and vintage pieces from [gallery and design store] 8 Holland Street, so it’s all from dealers that value the stories of their makers. The idea was to create the equivalent of my signature undone aesthetic in the salon interiors.” With Shoreditch House and branches of Le Labo, Aesop, and Sunspel as neighbors, the new salon is in good company.
It is also here, in this edgy corner of east London, that one of the most requested cuts of the year is being shaped on some of the city’s coolest women. “I grew up with the Vidal Sassoon school of cutting—I think that precision cuts like these are coming back, in a more undone kind of way,” he explains. “The modern ‘slob’ is a perfect example of this, and I’ve been cutting in a lot of them over the past few weeks.”
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The slob—despite what its nickname, a portmanteau of slick and bob, might suggest—is sharp in shape but isn’t too precisely cut. It’s less choppy than other bobs that have become popular in recent years. “It is all one length, has no shape at the front, and is sort of sliced into,” Northwood explains. “It’s just a really simple cut, and shouldn’t look like it’s been styled or cut in any way. It’s stripped back—if it was a fashion show, it would be The Row or something.” One of his most recent slob adoptees is Princess Olympia of Greece, whose neat blonde iteration is an enviable example of the style.
