The Unmasked Standard: Retro Redhead Salon

Meet Sam Donaldson, the owner of Retro Redhead Salon and one of our Neighbourhood Partners! Located at 635 Central Avenue, Retro Redhead is London’s first hair studio designed for neurodiverse, sensory-sensitive, and any other outliers. Donaldson opened the salon in 2022 after several years in boutique salons. “I opened here because I have health issues, so it’s catered to my illness, and I just kept attracting neurodiverse people,” she says. “It’s kind of evolved into it, I spent two years researching everything, and we’ve just been slowly implementing those practices.”

Donaldson has been cutting hair for around 27 years, spending the time travelling, teaching for major brands, and in boutique salons. She originally got into cutting hair because of the ability to travel from place to place. Donaldson operates the salon out of the back of her home, along with another stylist and her two dogs, Ben and Eva. “I've lived here for over 10 years, and it was in the process of being gentrified, so you were either gay or in the arts to live here,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not moving anywhere else, it’s not going to be in the suburbs, just not my cup of tea.” 

Retro Redhead offers several sensory accommodations, including silent appointments with no small talk after the consultation, low touch appointments, and even solo studio experiences for a small fee. Ahead of their appointments, clients fill out a form with some basic information and what accommodations they may need or want. “People keep commenting that they can be themselves here, not worry about other people or how overstimulating other salons can be,” Donaldson says. “When you come from a salon, you know that it can be overwhelming, but you don’t realize that other people aren’t comfortable there.” 

Having been both an Old East Village resident for more than a decade, and now a business owner, Donaldson says that the community has so much to offer. “I'm fully convinced it's going to be Kensington Market, just London's version of it,” she says. “There's no chains here. It’s all art people who have just kind of turned their passion into their living, which is phenomenal to see.” While there are challenges, she says that she’s had several clients come in just based on foot traffic. “We don’t do anything outside of Old East Village because everything’s just here, and there’s nothing corporate about it.”

Retro Redhead is open by appointment from Monday to Tuesday, and from Thursday to Saturday. Make sure you head to their website to book ahead!