Toni & Guy

Toni & Guy is a British hairdressing company founded in 1963, when the Italian-born brothers Toni and Guy Mascolo opened their first salon in Clapham, south London [1]. From that single shop it grew into an international salon chain and education business headquartered in London, and it remains active today, operating a global network of salons and a professional haircare line under the label.m name.

The company sits at the meeting point of hairdressing and fashion. It describes education as central to its identity, and over six decades it built academies, launched product lines and tied its name to the runway. In 2023 it marked its sixtieth, or diamond, anniversary [2].

Toni & Guy began life in Clapham in 1963. The founders were the brothers Giuseppe "Toni" Mascolo and Gaetano "Guy" Mascolo [4], sons of a hairdresser, Francesco, from whom they learned the trade [5]. Toni Mascolo, born in Scafati, Italy, in 1942, was the public face of the business for most of its history; he died in 2017.

The brothers were later joined by two younger siblings, Bruno and Anthony, and the family remained closely tied to the company's creative direction. Toni Mascolo's daughter, Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck, serves as its global creative director.

The single Clapham salon expanded through franchising, and in 1985 the company opened its first salon outside Europe, in Dallas, Texas [1]. Education became a formal part of the business, and the Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy opened in 1990.

Alongside the salons, the brothers built a product business. They established TIGI in 1979, beginning with a styling gel [5], and a younger-market salon brand, essensuals, was introduced in 1997 [6]. In 2004 Toni & Guy became an official sponsor of London Fashion Week, cementing its position within the fashion industry.

Toni & Guy has remained an independently held family business rather than part of a larger group; its parent company is not stated in available sources. Its product history, however, includes a significant divestment: the TIGI product line, created by Toni & Guy and home to the Bed Head range of haircare products [7], was acquired by Unilever in 2009 for £296 million [1]. TIGI products are therefore no longer owned by Toni & Guy, while the label.m line remains part of the company.

The company roots its identity in education. According to Toni & Guy, its "success and philosophy has been rooted firmly in education," built on sharing its experience to create what it calls globally renowned hairdressing training. It positions itself as an innovator "bridging the gap between fashion and hairdressing," and its salon work centres on precision, creativity and styling. Its current campaign runs under the line "New Vision. New Energy. New Edition."

Toni & Guy's professional haircare is sold under the label.m brand, which describes itself as "a creatively conscious professional haircare collective" and as "fashion-led with a sustainable soul." The line's stated aim is to empower professional stylists, and it emphasises what it calls biocompatible cleansing and conditioning formulas and products that are gender-neutral and suitable for all ages.

The label.m catalogue spans shampoos, conditioners, treatments, oils and styling sprays across ranges such as Nourish & Repair, Colour Care and Volumise & Thicken. Named products include the Honey & Oat Moisturising Shampoo and the Diamond Dust Nourishing Leave-In Conditioner, while its signature range, "The Matrix," is described as a multi-generational, gender-neutral system of more than fifty products. Historically, the company's most widely distributed products came through TIGI and its Bed Head line, though those passed to Unilever in 2009.

Co-founder Toni Mascolo was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008 for services to hairdressing [8]. The company has been named a Consumer Superbrand in the United Kingdom, an accolade it reported receiving for a sixteenth consecutive year in 2022–2023 [2]. Its creative team has also featured at the British Hairdressing Awards, where global creative director Cos Sakkas won British Hairdresser of the Year across three consecutive years through 2024–25 [2]. The label.m line was named the official haircare product of London Fashion Week.

Toni & Guy is active and operates internationally. Sources differ on the size of its salon network: Wikipedia records 457 salons in 41 countries as of 2022 [1], while the trade publication WWD has described the chain as running 800 salons in more than 50 countries [6]. The counts vary by date and by whether sister-brand salons such as essensuals are included. Its most recent visible activity includes industry awards in 2024–25 and the current campaign running on its website.