Drawn to the City

The Hairdresser: Adam Hadley Darrie

Adam Hadley Darrie approaches hairdressing like a master painter, transforming his client’s locks into tresses of neon yellow, deep mauve or fiery pink, brilliant enough to rival the palette of any Abstract ARTIST.

His rainbow application of colour defies traditional ideas of hairdressing and fits perfectly with the digital age of fashion, youth culture and the visibility of the Queer movement. When chatting to Darrie he describes his approach to style with humour and warmth saying, “think of all your 90s childhood dreams; Lisa Frank and day glow and then try and make it classy.”

Together with partner Paul Engelhardt, Darrie owns and runs Archie & Co, a business that encompasses hairdressing, homewares and coffee culture on Carrington Street. Darrie and Engelhardt opened their business in 2015 and today work with a team of twelve stylists to service their clients.

Born in Adelaide, Darrie grew up travelling the world thanks to his parent’s employment with Australian Embassies overseas. Citing New Delhi, Washington DC and San Diego as previous homes, Darrie says, “My parents were with DFAT and living in so many different places gave me a strong sense of self and image. I think this really shows through in my work.”

Attending high school in the US meant Darrie didn’t wear a school uniform, so he took to experimenting with personal style as a response to the freedom he had. Changing his look and regularly transforming his hair with dye led him to consider a career in hairdressing.

At 17 he took on another great city, moving to London to train with the Vidal Sassoon Academy. Living in the London neighbourhood of Kentish Town while studying Darrie was exposed to the eclectic fashion sense of the UK, especially the punk attitudes of the Camden Markets of the early 2000s.

In 2003 Darrie returned to Adelaide; he had completed his training and worked in London before living again in the US. Returning to Adelaide was meant only to be temporary and give him a chance to be closer to his family. But on his return he gained employment with Toni & Guy and has since stayed on, making Adelaide his permanent base.

Archie & Co harnesses the powers of social media to show their salon work online, sharing videos and photos that demonstrate the complete process of a client’s transformation. “I feel like it’s the way of the future” says Darrie, “as clients want a business that has personality and a face and reflects who they are.”

Communication is vital when building rapport with clients, and for Darrie it is also about understanding someone’s taste and then knowing how to talk to them about it. “I always think that taste comes above talent. You can always get better at something but if you and your client’s taste levels don’t match up it’s hard to give them what they truly want. Skills will come with time”, says Darrie.

Experimental colouring is the area of hairdressing that Darrie really feels he can express himself. “Traditional hair colouring is quite scientific, but with the new colours it is more about mixing colour in a similar way an artist mixes their colour pallet”, says Darrie. It is hard for him to narrow down a favourite colour but says that, “yellow is exciting, it is in your face and not very common, a little bit ugly cool.”

“I follow my instincts,” says Darrie about understanding trends in the hair world, “And I draw a lot of inspiration from the punk movement, and Japanese and Russian street style. The youth too have a lot more freedom, particularly queer people and I hope it keeps developing.” Darrie sees the online world as a vital tool allowing youth to reach outside their own sphere and create and develop community. When it comes to fashion, says Darrie. “It is as if seasons don’t apply, fashion trends are emerging at the same time around the world.”

Similarly Covid-19 affected hair salons universally, making shutdowns mandatory around the nation. “After being in this field for 21 years, I haven’t really had a holiday to just be still at home, my body loved it. I didn’t have back pain and it forced me to pause and reflect on my career. Everyone in the entire world was in the same boat; it took the selfishness out of it”, says Darrie of the pandemic. “At first it was really stressful, but I felt a massive relief when we decided to shut for a month. Now that we are back it feels normal again, and it’s really great to be back with my team at work.”

Leo Greenfield is a freelance illustrator
leogreenfield.com