A Sheffield story, told properly.
Our story is bigger than hair. It runs through Sheffield's music scene, a much-loved record shop, a recession-era gamble, and nearly two decades of training, creativity and reinvention.
This isn't a list of dates. It's the story of why Wigs & Warpaint exists at all. Scroll through the journey.
Before Hair
Before there was a salon, there was music. Paul cut his teeth in Sheffield's record shops before opening Cool Wax Records, which quickly became a hub for the city's dance music scene.
Artist appearances and signings, queues down the street, club promotions. Alongside the shop came DJ residencies, including Gatecrasher, Sunday Best, Exhilaration, Insomniacz, and his own run of Hustle, West One Rox and MiCasa events that brought internationally respected DJs to the city that Sheffield had never seen before.
The Turning Point
Then the ground shifted. Digital downloads and CDJs changed the music industry almost overnight, and independent record shops could not keep up.
Like so many, Cool Wax closed its doors around 2007. The end of one chapter, and the beginning of another.
Claire's Story
At the same time, Claire was making her own name. An award-winning stylist, she had already won Young Stylist and Young Colourist titles before Wigs & Warpaint existed.
Two creative careers, both at a turning point, and a shared decision: to build something of their own.
The Gamble
It was not the safe moment to open a business. Right at the start of the recession, they took on one of Sheffield's largest salon spaces: two empty floors, very few guarantees, and a huge amount of belief.
A gamble, and the beginning of everything that followed.
Building a Brand
The salon grew fast. Within a short time Wigs & Warpaint was one of Sheffield's busiest salons.
They invested early in things many salons had not yet thought about: websites, professional photography, fashion shoots, events and marketing. Building not just a salon, but a brand.
Training & Community
This is a huge part of who we are. We have trained apprentices from scratch, helped stylists become educators, and helped people go on to open their own salons.
Over nearly two decades we have invested in hundreds of careers. Even when people have moved on, we have always believed in helping people grow.
Awards & Recognition
Along the way came the recognition. Awards, press coverage, fashion shows, magazine features, celebrity work and milestones.
Not trophies on a shelf, but markers of a journey, and of a team that kept pushing.
Today
Nearly twenty years later, we are still here. Still independent, still family owned, still evolving, and still investing in Sheffield.
The story is far from finished.
West One Plaza, Sheffield.
Right in the city centre. Trams and buses on the doorstep, parking nearby, and we're open till 8pm Wednesday to Friday. No excuses not to come in.