The business of hair styling

I meet Drew Foster at his brand new hair salon in the heart of Shoreditch early one morning. I am there as he opens up shop. There is a familiar atmosphere to the place, not unlike that of a mid to late sixties music video awash with distant pastel colours. Hues of green, pink and blue are adorned with vintage paintings and what seems like an endless collection of porcelain cats. Ramone and Margo, the two resident puppies try to engage us in play. It is impossible to sit down and not be taken aback by the love that has clearly been poured into this place.

Spurred by his mother, a young Drew Foster enrolled in a college to study for a Business degree, only to realise early on that this despite not knowing exactly where life was to lead him, that was perhaps not his best option. At the beginning of the 90s, his aunt, a multi award-winning stylist (including a win at the British Hairdressing Awards), brought a nineteen-year old Drew to one of her ceremonies and he was hooked. It must have seemed at the like all the pieces of his life had been slowly falling together only to come perfectly aligned at that one pivotal moment when he knew – he was going to be a stylist. He caught the bug and there was nothing else he could do. Drew promptly withdrew from his business studies degree and started formal education to become a stylist, which was swiftly followed by five years under his aunt’s tutelage and watchful eye.

Armed with that experience, Drew felt ready to take on the world and moved to London where he then spent ten years at the ubiquitous Tony & Guy, eventually becoming their Head Educator, overseeing the training of an army of future stylists, culminating in a nomination for British Men’s Hairdresser of the year; an honour bestowed on less than a handful of stylists a year. Drew then spent many years as a stylist in the TV and film industries and has also styled for prominent fashion powerhouses, including John Galliano, Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen.

Despite the glitz and the glamour, Foster craved something a little bit more sedentary and client focused; something that meant he could build long-lasting relationships with real people. He felt that oftentimes, the relationships in those circles could be somewhat short, despite the amount of highly interesting people. Roughly six years ago then, Drew decided to join a relatively young Salon at the time, Taylor Taylor, mostly out of the need for a steady income in order to qualify for a mortgage.

Although the cogs had been set in motion many years previously, it was when his local Council engaged in a compulsory purchase of his flat that ignition really happened and his salon, Foster London started gaining shape.

His sister, Nadia Foster, (Charles Worthington Colourist of the Year and Session Stylist of the Year), and him felt a good use of the compensation awarded by the Council would be to invest it in the premises for their very own business. Thus, Foster London was born and now occupies a grand prime spot in the very heart of Shoreditch. Understandably, the experience of being forced to sell his flat, although underpinned by a rather prominent silver lining, was not painless.

Drew and Nadia have now been in business officially for about four weeks and it is going splendidly well. They have been operating since late December however, styling for friends and regulars, while the building they now occupy was very literally, a construction site. The amount of people deciding to get a haircut in the midst of the chaos was, without a doubt, testament to the siblings’ talent. They now employ eight people, two of them part-time. Drew’s experience in educating young stylists even led him to take on one of the builders that worked on site as a junior, citing the young man’s enthusiasm.

Three weeks after opening there were already plenty of days where all the stylists were fully booked. In his many years working in the industry Drew “never saw anything like it”; a clear and resounding success story so far. He is seeing business from previous regular clients, but also from a surprisingly large number of walk-ins and brand new patrons. It seems like Foster London is generating unprecedented buzz.

His philosophy is relatively simple, albeit powerful. Drew wanted his staff to be able to talk to him about anything and be able to talk them as equals too

Having had the fortune of working in many different places, Drew has had the opportunity to not only learn from others, but also to take time to decide how he wanted to run his own business. His philosophy is relatively simple, albeit powerful. Drew wanted his staff to be able to talk to him about anything and be able to talk them as equals too. Correct treatment of staff and the banishing of negativity were joint number one on his priority list.

Some have raised concerns about the saturation of salons in the area, but Drew is quick to dismiss that this could be an issue in a rather frank manner. He believes that if you “provide a good service, enough people will come”. So far, this way of thinking has been proved correct for Foster London. In business, Drew exclaims, “it is important to be lucky and do things properly”. Drew talked of his day-to-day frustration with the agglomeration of small annoyances that inevitably come with starting up a business, such has the extortionate potential £12,000 yearly fees that banks were trying to charge him for the supposed privilege of being able to accept cards from his clients. Given his can-do attitude, I have a very sneaky suspicion Drew actually enjoys overcoming these problems and takes it in his stride. The Foster siblings are quickly taking over London; next step, the world.