Family celebrating 20th anniversary of hair salon

A HAIR salon in Henley is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Dorata in Hart Street is run by brothers Angelo and Andrea Dorata and their sister Simona.

The trio held a drinks reception for about 70 guests at the salon on Saturday night to celebrate.

Angelo, who grew up in Sicily and moved to Henley in 1992, set up the business in 2003 after leaving another salon where he was a manager.

He said: “Initially the salon was called AD — my initials — but when my brother and sister came, I realised we had the potential to create something that was not already in Henley.

“I wanted to create a salon with an informal, welcoming environment. It was something that I wanted to create for all of my career.

“We put a system in place, an ideology, where we wanted to use our younger brother as a spearhead so he could grow as an artist and for me and my sister to be the backbone of everything that we did. The salon is an extension of my home and the team an extension of my family and my clients are my guests. For us, this was important.”

Despite the global financial crisis of 2008, the business flourished.

Mr Dorata said: “A couple of months before the recession we refurbished the salon.

“While other people were extremely worried about what was happening, we grew out of it. Out of the recession we became a much more established team.”

A few years later, Dorata became a key account holder for L’Oréal, which meant it had greater access to the company and the industry.

Mr Dorata said: “Out of thousands of salons only a few hundred are a key account holder for L’Oréal, which enables us to give more to our clients.

“Our goal is to exceed our clients’ expertise, to give individuality and style with the latest trends and techniques to create beautiful hair. For me, it is about creating a bespoke experience.”

In 2019, Andrea opened a second branch in Marlow which has also thrived despite the coronavirus pandemic the following year.

Mr Dorata said: “During the pandemic it was weird for all of us. It was the first time I had been at home since I was a young man and we couldn’t wait to be together again.

“The challenge was to be able to perform as well as you could even though you were surrounded by plastic. It was great when all that was gone, when we could work without it again — it felt like a celebration.”

The family now employs 16 people across both salons. Mr Dorata says their success is down to being committed to training and staying on trend with new styles and techniques.

“Everything we do I want to do in the best way,” he said. “I want to make our customers feel important.

“All of this is inspired by our parents. They have always been our inspiration because they always wanted us to do well.”

He thanked all his past and current customers, particularly those who have been with him for decades.

“We have a lot of regulars,” said Mr Dorata. “I have seen children become successful business people and young people become parents. The best compliment is when they come back to us.

“When we started we hoped that we would be successful and in the future we will push ourselves as much as we can to give more as well as enjoy it.”