Welcome to the Heckmondwike hairdressing salon where dads are taught how to style their daughter’s hair

The Pin Up Hair Co has already held two successful workshops in which local fathers bring their daughters to the High Street salon and practise how to tie, platt and style their hair.

And owner Katrina Carter, who opened the business in August 2020, is already looking forward to the third session which is due to be held next month.

“I got the idea before I had kids, when I was working in a salon in north Leeds,” revealed Katrina. “But there was only so much I could do, so as soon as I got this salon, it was something I wanted to do.

“My Dad never did my hair when I was growing up. It was a case of always going to your Mum. It’s nice for the dad’s to get involved and not feel excluded out of stuff like that just because they’re male.

“What if there is a single dad who has a little girl and she has to go to a ballet class and he doesn’t know what to do with her hair - I can show him how to do that.”

Katrina is also delighted with the overwhelming ‘positive’ response she has received from the community. She said:

“The response has been really positive and the sessions seem to be quite popular. I was afraid when I first announced it as I thought, ‘Am I going to get a lot of abuse about sexism?’ But I haven’t had anything that way.

“In fact, I have got all the women sending their husbands to me!

“A few days later, after each workshop, I then always get a load of photos from the dads of all the hairstyles they have done on their little girls. It’s really nice.”

Detailing what the sessions generally involve, Katrina said:

“It starts with basic hair care, and learning just how to use a bobble. Then we go onto ponytail, pigtails and platts and then buns for dance classes.

“We have had a few men get in touch asking about the next level, saying, ‘I’ve done this, what else can I do?’ That’s in the pipeline as well.

“The idea is they spend a couple of hours in the salon in the morning and they can then go off and get some lunch with their little girl, so it ends up being they spend a lot of time together.

“Although I think one and a half to two hours is enough in the salon because I think they just get sick of having their hair played with!

“I then give the girls a little goody bag with sweets and bits and bobs.”

The salon has also been shortlisted at the upcoming Hair and Beauty Awards 2023 in five categories, including best salon, best colour salon, hairstylist of the year, best business branding and entrepreneur of the year.