Winifred Atwell

Winifred Atwell was one of the biggest pop stars in 1950s Britain. Born in Trinidad, she moved to London in 1946, signed to Decca Records soon after, had a string of number-one hits and performed for the newly crowned Queen at Buckingham Palace.

But Atwell’s influence extended far beyond music. Black beauty products were hard to find at the time, and there were no salons specialising in Black hair.

Spotting a need and opportunity, Atwell opened her salon in Brixton in 1956.

It proved a big success, and Atwell relocated to Mayfair in the early 1960s, creating what was almost certainly the first Black hair salon in central London.

Atwell closed her salon in 1967 and moved to Australia. Her pioneering career paved the way for a whole industry of salons and products catering to the growing Black populations across the UK.

All images courtesy Brixton Society brixtonsociety.org.uk