Larry King

Larry King is a British haircare brand founded in London in November 2018 by the session and celebrity hairstylist Larry King and his wife, the designer Laura King [3]. Built around the slogan "A Social Life For Your Hair," it grew directly out of King's London salons, productising the multi-functional formulas he had been mixing for clients behind the scenes. The brand should not be confused with the late American broadcaster of the same name; it is the haircare line of the British hairdresser.

The company sits at the intersection of salon expertise and at-home use, positioning its products as genderless, multi-purpose and suitable for a range of hair types. It remains active and expanding, with a third London salon opened in late 2024 and stated plans to enter the New York market.

Larry King built his name as a session stylist working across fashion, music and celebrity hair, contributing to publications such as Vogue, GQ and Tatler and styling shows for designers including Erdem and Roksanda. In January 2017 he opened a flagship salon in South Kensington, which Tatler called "London's Hottest New Salon."

Laura King, whom he met in 2000, had worked as a lingerie, print and branding designer. In 2016 the couple decided to combine his hairdressing career with her design background, and in November 2018 they launched Larry King Haircare with products King had developed and used on clients for years [3]. Laura King designs the branding, packaging and salon interiors and runs much of the business behind the scenes.

The brand's timeline is closely tied to the growth of the salon business. The South Kensington flagship opened in 2017, followed by a second salon near Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill in 2019 and a space at the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco the same year. In December 2024 the company opened a third London salon in Marylebone, a 2,800-square-foot, two-floor space with a Western saloon theme and a discreet basement area for high-profile clients [7].

Trade publication WWD reported in 2025 that the salon business had grown its staff from 13 to about 50 people and was achieving roughly 20 percent average year-on-year turnover growth, according to the company, with plans to expand into New York. The product line launched in 2018 and has since grown to span shampoos, conditioners, styling and finishing products and accessories.

Larry King remains independently held by its founders; no parent company or acquisition is recorded. The business has taken on outside investors, including the British model David Gandy, who is also a salon client, alongside Deliveroo chief executive Will Shu and the influencer Victoria Magrath [7]. Gandy described King as embodying "determination, drive and work ethic."

The brand frames itself around welcoming, un-intimidating salons and the idea of translating that atmosphere into products that deliver "salon-worthy hair at home." In a Cult Beauty interview, King summed up the brand in three words as "Luxury, innovative, sustainable" [6], and described the aim as taking expert ideas and "delivering them in a relatable, and un-intimidating way."

Inclusivity is central to the positioning. The company says its products are designed to be genderless and to work across multiple hair types, rather than segmented by gender [6]. The "A Social Life For Your Hair" line carries the same name as the salons' guiding ethos, and the brand also describes itself as "British At Heart," rooted in British hairdressing.

The range is built around multi-functional formulas meant to work both individually and in combination without weighing hair down. Signature products include the Wash Cycle shampoos — sold in three variants, Social Life, Good Life and City Life — and the Liquid Hairbrush Conditioner, a detangling conditioner the brand markets as award-winning. King has explained that the three shampoos exist because "your hair needs different things at different times of the week, month and year." Other products include the Ride or Die Texture Spray, My Nanna's Mousse and the Spoilt For Choice Hair Oil.

The brand says its products are produced and developed in the United Kingdom [5]. According to the company, the full range is cruelty-free and has never been tested on animals, and most products are vegan, with a small number of exceptions including A Social Life For Your Hair in its 100ml and 30ml sizes, the Flyaway Kit and the Velvet Texture Clay [5]. The products are fragranced rather than fragrance-free.

The brand is sold through UK retailers such as Selfridges, Liberty, John Lewis, Cult Beauty and Beauty Bay, and internationally through stockists including David Jones in Australia and Skins in the Netherlands.

King's salons have drawn repeated press attention: in addition to Tatler's "London's Hottest New Salon," Harper's Bazaar named the South Kensington salon "Number One Salon 2018." Among the products, the Liquid Hairbrush Conditioner has been the most widely reviewed, carrying a rating of roughly 4.56 stars on Cult Beauty and frequently singled out by reviewers [10].

King's session work is associated with a number of high-profile clients named across interviews and press, including Gigi Hadid, Jared Leto, Zayn Malik, Natalie Portman and Sienna Miller [7].

Sustainability is presented as one of the brand's three core values, focused chiefly on reducing plastic. The company states that its packaging is made from glass, aluminium or FSC-certified card, which it considers better alternatives to plastic [6]. It is candid about the limits of this approach, describing it as "a step in the right direction, not perfection," and noting that pumps and lids are not recyclable and should be removed before recycling.

Larry King is an active and growing business. Its most recent visible milestones include the December 2024 opening of the Marylebone salon and the company's reported expansion plans, including a move into New York and discussions about wider retail placement for the product line [7]. New products, such as the Ride or Die Texture Spray, continue to be promoted on the brand's own channels.