10 Years of Radio
“From the beginning we wanted to it be a Hair and Gallery space. We wanted to celebrate the art of hairdressing. Although our language was that of hair and how it was styled, it was the image that would speak for the work - and tell a story in a brief glimpse caught from the corner of the eye. We play with hair to create moods, feelings, reactions, responses, shock and surprise.”
Hi Corrado, how did Radio start?
Radio is the brainchild of 15 years in the industry prior to Radio, working with and meeting many inspiring people from all walks of life predominately being based in East London which is where I chose to open the doors to my first space on Redchurch Street in 2010.
Why did you choose the name Radio?
We chose the name Radio because it was evocative, a progressive nod to the analogue in a world moving frantically towards the digital.
We also wanted a name that wasn't directly connected to hair and that would represent a non-visual form of inspiration.
Your space works both as a functioning hairdresser while simultaneously acting as a gallery space, is there any time where the art of pursuing a vision as a gallery clashes with the practical side of running a business? If so, has there been any time where you’ve had to compromise one for the other?
The gallery and salon work as separate entities but in a very fluid and organic way. I am very selective when choosing an artist ensuring the gallery and salon compliment each other but once I have done so the artist is given a free rein of the space.
The idea of what inspires those working at your gallery seems like a focus of the hairdressers, with stylists on your instagram talking about what specifically inspires them to work, specifically one of your stylists (Brandon Boorovski) says they’re inspired from everything, “cities, art, music, cinema and of course other individuals” How does inspiration like that impact both the hairdressing art and the gallery space?
Inspiration is the fuel of our creative ideas and affects everything we do in life.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Your studios offer education too, with specific hairdressing courses available. For those wanting to learn a specific skill. What was the motivation behind offering these?
I always wanted education to be part of our DNA and Radio Vision as one collective. The Radio education forms the foundation for each stylist to bring their own personality. Education starts in house and is the core of what is Radio.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Beauty will tear us apart, 2017
Black and White, 2017
Balancing being a gallery, hairdressers, and also a place to learn must be quite a challenge, how do you manage this?
Of course there are challenges but we don’t separate the three, these elements come together to make Radio and is managed as a whole.
In reference to the courses you offer you mention that along with teaching fundamental skills, you’ll show students “how to tune into art and fashion where things are less than perfect, and much more interesting”. This is an extremely interesting ethos! How do you go about teaching this/balancing it with teaching fundamental skills.
We start with our fundamentals we then hone in on each individual’s unique talents and aim to bring that out giving confidence to then break fundamental boundaries when inspired to do so yet with a knowledge as to why and when.
The work in your salons changes on a four month basis from “up and coming artists” (as put by the evening standard), what is the process for choosing artists that are featured, and what do you look for when you choose an artist to feature?
First is instinct and obviously I’m drawn to things I have a personal connection to. Then I have to consider how the pieces work in the space. I have also been fortunate enough to call some extremely talented artists close friends whom I have been lucky to meet on my journey and who I always have lots of fun hosting in the gallery.
Untitled, 2016
You’re releasing a book for your tenth anniversary, featuring some really striking projects like “wondrous field” and “Onna Bugeisha”. How did you narrow down what you’ve done in this time to choose which projects were featured?
The book is a celebration of the evolution and work of the Radio team.
It’s not been easy to pick what to feature and what to leave out. The decider was choosing the images that flowed best together to tell our story.
What would you say was your favourite project out of those featured in the book, and which was the most challenging to pull off?
The favourite project was metamorphosis as it was such a team effort in every sense.
All the projects brought their own challenges, shooting Girl walking on the beach in the Dover white cliff beach on a freezing cold windy day with less than an hour of daylight was a particularly tough one.
A project that really stuck out to me from the book was “hair for dinner”, what was the idea behind it?
The whole idea for hair for dinner was to showcase hair in a context that normally would make people feel uncomfortable and still make it look visually relevant.
Acid’s Desires, 2019
Was it difficult to translate what existed in your salon into this book? Collating your projects over the year must have posed a new challenge in terms of presenting the Radio Salon Ethos!
It was so interesting to revisit all these images, it made us realize how much we evolved at the same time was important to set up the foundation for our future projects.
Having passed the 10-year mark and achieved incredible amounts in this time, are there any specific goals or plans for Radio going forward? Would you want to do more with your gallery spaces or anything in that vein?
There are a lot of exciting plans for Radio going forward and we definitely want to host more gallery events especially after such a long lock down.
The social part of the gallery is such an important part of Radio.
On your courses page you quote Leonard Cohen and say: ‘Forget your perfect offering. There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.’ What’s your favourite Leonard Cohen song?
Dance me to the end of love
Excellent choice! Thanks so much for giving us a look at what it’s been like to run such an interesting and ambitious project these past 10 years. The works in this book are remarkable, we can’t wait to have it here in person.
About Radio London
Radio’s website can be found here, and are available for appointments at any of their three award-winning London Salons for hair and beauty, located in King’s Cross, Shoreditch and Mayfair. You also can see here what’s happening in the gallery spaces, with Cecelia Charlton currently featured at Radio King’s Cross.
As mentioned Radio also provides hair stylist education courses that go beyond the basics and allow stylists to both master and break the fundamentals needed to express their visions.
Radio is an award-winning salon, being featured in GQ, Time Out London, and many more.
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