The Ed.
Well-Known Member
It doesn't matter what side of the pond you're on, or indeed on what side of the globe you live, if you haven't already heard of WAH Nails it is only a matter of time. Exploding onto the nail scene in 2009, there is no doubt that WAH Nails is just about the coolest thing to hit the nail industry well, ever. Now, Sharmadean Reid, founder of WAH Nails, has launched The WAH Nails Book of Nail Art in the Big Apple with a big, cool-as-you-like, one-off event in NYC.
But what is WAH Nails? In 2005, Sharmadean Reid started a teeny-tiny London-based fanzine for girls in hip-hop; it championed those contributing to the music scene and gave a platform to that new generation of energised women actioning a new wave of feminism. Needless to say, it didn't stay 'teeny-tiny' for long. It lead to the WAHappening blog and big events such as the WAH Power Lunch. Before you could say WAH-T?, WAH had an international following of girls "who loved their Nike sneakers as much as their Prada wedges."
But that still doesn't tell us what WAH Nail is, does it? Don't worry, I'm getting there. As a working Trend Consultant, Sharmadean Reid saw into the style-coloured future and made the astute guess that nail art was on the rise and was about to burst onto the mainstream scene. Of course, Sharmadean and the WAH club had been sporting kick-ass nail art for years, so Sharmadean decided to open her own nail salon where you could have "whatever you wanted on your fingertips". And so WAH Nails was born.
In 2009, WAH Nails opened its doors in trendy Daltson to a very impressed press and it quickly became the go-to salon for fashion forward nails. The salon quickly became a local hotspot hosting jumble sales, record launch parties, art shows and film nights. In other words, it stayed true to its fanzine roots: it was all about community.
Since then, WAH Nails has gone stratospheric. In their opening year, WAH Nails were regular at London Fashion Week, they worked parties for huge brands such as Nike, Marc Jacobs and Diesel, they had a week-long pop-up show at Selfridges, Reid was named one of the '15 People Who Will Define the Future of Arts in Britain', and she was featured in Vogue's 'New Generation'. In 2010, WAH opened in Oxford Street's Topshop and is now in Harvey Nichols in Dublin as well.
Finally, the latest achievement is the publication of The WAH Nails Book of Nail Art. Already available in the UK, it'll launch in the USA in July.
Watch this space. I have no doubt that the WAH Nails take-over has only just begun.
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
But what is WAH Nails? In 2005, Sharmadean Reid started a teeny-tiny London-based fanzine for girls in hip-hop; it championed those contributing to the music scene and gave a platform to that new generation of energised women actioning a new wave of feminism. Needless to say, it didn't stay 'teeny-tiny' for long. It lead to the WAHappening blog and big events such as the WAH Power Lunch. Before you could say WAH-T?, WAH had an international following of girls "who loved their Nike sneakers as much as their Prada wedges."
But that still doesn't tell us what WAH Nail is, does it? Don't worry, I'm getting there. As a working Trend Consultant, Sharmadean Reid saw into the style-coloured future and made the astute guess that nail art was on the rise and was about to burst onto the mainstream scene. Of course, Sharmadean and the WAH club had been sporting kick-ass nail art for years, so Sharmadean decided to open her own nail salon where you could have "whatever you wanted on your fingertips". And so WAH Nails was born.
In 2009, WAH Nails opened its doors in trendy Daltson to a very impressed press and it quickly became the go-to salon for fashion forward nails. The salon quickly became a local hotspot hosting jumble sales, record launch parties, art shows and film nights. In other words, it stayed true to its fanzine roots: it was all about community.
Since then, WAH Nails has gone stratospheric. In their opening year, WAH Nails were regular at London Fashion Week, they worked parties for huge brands such as Nike, Marc Jacobs and Diesel, they had a week-long pop-up show at Selfridges, Reid was named one of the '15 People Who Will Define the Future of Arts in Britain', and she was featured in Vogue's 'New Generation'. In 2010, WAH opened in Oxford Street's Topshop and is now in Harvey Nichols in Dublin as well.
Finally, the latest achievement is the publication of The WAH Nails Book of Nail Art. Already available in the UK, it'll launch in the USA in July.
Watch this space. I have no doubt that the WAH Nails take-over has only just begun.
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
