It’s hard to believe that Hooker and Young have been coiffing the hair of the trendy folk in the North East and further afield for nineteen years together as a brand. With five hair salons across the breadth of the North East region, one of which also offers beauty treatments, this dedicated duo have you covered for all your hair and beauty needs. Between them, they’ve racked up a fair few awards and continue to do so as they push their brand into new territory, with a Schwarzkopf collaboration on the cards it seems there’s no stopping the force that is Hooker and Young.
The great thing about the pair is that they’ve stayed true to their roots. Despite having five salons and a management team, the pair still show up to work everyday, they still cut and colour hair and are involved in the day to day running of the salon, both still take on new clients and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and remember where it all began.
The reason for this particular post is to celebrate the Hooker and Young Darlington Salon’s fifth birthday. I absolutely love a good get together with Gary and Michael and so threw on a Maison Margiela oversized denim shirt, Victoria’s Secret camouflage socks and a pair of Chanel boots and made the trip to Darlington to catch up with my favourite Northern Hair Pair.
Never ones to shy away from a fabulous event, the dashing duo together with their PR maestro, Claire Barber, and sponsors La Di Da magazine and Houndgate Townhouse, pulled together an amazing birthday bash to help them celebrate in style.
Bloggers, local celebrities, press and Hooker and Young clients were invited along to the salon after hours where staff from Houndgate Townhouse served bespoke cocktails created especially for the event and Angela Metcalfe, La Di Da magazine’s resident gin expert was on hand to facilitate gin tasting with a rather exotic selection for party-goers to try.
Stella and Dot provided a pop up shop for the evening showcasing a variety of covetable costume jewellery and there were beauty demonstrations including HD Brows by resident beauty expert Kelly Covell from Hooker and Young’s Ponteland salon.
Downstairs in the salon there were quick hair makeovers available for clients, all done by a GHD representative using the latest tools offered by the brand including the GHD Curve and the soon to be released GHD Platinum flatiron (it’s awesome, trust me!) and there were exclusive discounts available for shoppers on the night.
I caught up with vineyard owner and Man-About-Town Krispian Lloyd who told me that the event was a great way for Hooker and Young to bring clients into their world and thank them for their custom over the years and he’s absolutely right, it’s a great way for a brand to connect with people in a relaxed environment.
At the end of the evening, all clients left with a goodie bag containing mini Kerastase hair products and samples of a new Schwarzkopf hair oil, and some may even have left with a fuzzy head after loading up on cocktails and gin, all I know is that I had a great night, (man, these guys know how to throw a party). So here’s to the next five years guys, chin chin!
Pixie x
