When is a hair salon not a hair salon? When it doubles as an art gallery. Daniel Kelly was a stylist before training as an artist, and he has married these two skills in DKUK, his venture in South London’s Peckham. ‘As an artist, I had been interested in making art for people outside galleries,' he says. ‘Showing art in a hair salon felt more democratic’.
Kelly, who met designer Sam Jacob at a wedding, briefed him to create a flexible, hybrid space, fitting for both haircuts and sculptures. Chairs are positioned either in front of artwork on the walls (instead of mirrors) or around a central table in front of sculptures. For the ‘reveal’, clients sit in front of a two-way mirrored display cabinet. By pushing a big red button, the mirror lights up and reflects the new hairstyle.
Jacob has also curated DKUK’s current exhibition, ‘Museum Show’. He asked architects, designers and artists – including Assemble, Baukuh, DK-CM, Fala Atelier, Fraser Muggeridge, Madelon Vriesendorp, Maio and OMMX – to create a scale model, reimagining what a museum could be.
Kelly is now training artists to become hairdressers, giving them a second income stream. ‘I felt more comfortable in the art world, so having artists at DKUK makes it a nice place to work. Everyone tells us the atmosphere isn’t like any other hair salon.’
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the DKUK website
ADDRESS
191 Queens Rd
Peckham
SE15 2NG
-
How to elevate a rental with minimal interventions? Charu Gandhi has nailed it with her London homeFocus on key spaces, work with inherited details, and go big on colour and texture, says Gandhi, an interior designer set on beautifying her tired rental
-
These fashion books, all released in 2025, are the perfect gift for style fansChosen by the Wallpaper* style editors to inspire, intrigue and delight, these visually enticing tomes for your fashion library span from lush surveys on Loewe and Louis Vuitton to the rebellious style of Rick Owens and Jean Paul Gaultier
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekFar from slowing down for the festive season, the Wallpaper* team is in full swing, hopping from events to openings this week. Sometimes work can feel like play – and we also had time for some festive cocktails and cinematic releases
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Far from slowing down for the festive season, the Wallpaper* team is in full swing, hopping from events to openings this week. Sometimes work can feel like play – and we also had time for some festive cocktails and cinematic releases
-
The Barbican is undergoing a huge revamp. Here’s what we knowThe Barbican Centre is set to close in June 2028 for a year as part of a huge restoration plan to future-proof the brutalist Grade II-listed site
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s wet, windy and wintry and, this week, the Wallpaper* team craved moments of escape. We found it in memories of the Mediterranean, flavours of Mexico, and immersions in the worlds of music and art
-
Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* team had its finger on the pulse of architecture, interiors and fashion – while also scooping the latest on the Radiohead reunion and London’s buzziest pizza
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been a week of escapism: daydreams of Ghana sparked by lively local projects, glimpses of Tokyo on nostalgic film rolls, and a charming foray into the heart of Christmas as the festive season kicks off in earnest
-
Wes Anderson at the Design Museum celebrates an obsessive attention to detail‘Wes Anderson: The Archives’ pays tribute to the American film director’s career – expect props and puppets aplenty in this comprehensive London retrospective
-
Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
