CUTS x Lower Stable Street

Visitors to Lower Stable Street this September will encounter the faces of underground London - famous and infamous - with the launch of the CUTS x Lower Stable Street exhibition. This new outdoor show features images taken from ‘CUTS’, a book of portraits shot by Steve Brooks in the ‘90s and ‘00s in the basement of cult Soho hairdressers CUTS. 

The shop opened in Kensington Market in 1978 and then moved to Soho where it remains today. CUTS had a reputation as not only the best hair salon in the city, but also a premier source for street culture, and regulars included Goldie, Fran Healy, Judy Blame, Neneh Cherry, Boy George, Naomi Campbell and many more.

These images were originally displayed as enlarged 35mm black & white contact sheets in the window of the shop, replaced only when the next roll was developed - and then forgotten. Recovered from obscurity, the photos have been collected together and given a new life in ‘CUTS’, published by DoBeDo and Gimme5, now in its second revised and expanded edition.

CUTS has maintained a prominent influence over London style, and much of its work will soon be revisited through decades of archival footage. All profits from the book will fund the completion of the CUTS documentary film, ‘No Ifs Or Buts’, directed by Sarah Lewis.  In 1996, Lewis began filming a 'year in the life' observational documentary at CUTS; after 27 years, the film is now being completed, offering a unique perspective on changing lives within a shifting societal landscape. ‘No Ifs Or Buts’ picked up the Jannuzzi Smith Award and Le Film Français Award at this year’s Locarno Film Festival and is slated for release early 2024.