This week brought another new storefront to Ossington in the form of Hero Heroine – a salon serving both men and women. Following on a whole string of new style and beauty shops including Annie Aime and PopUp 120, the new owners of 216 Ossington have spruced up the old space where Cantadora was as well as taken over both downstairs and upstairs of the building so they could have a massage room, a colouring salon upstairs plus a men’s lounge downstairs.
The salon is the brainchild of Niko Liberio and Anthony Filipetto, who owned a salon together called Purple Hearts when they were in their early 20s on Queen West – back when Queen West meant John street, and the feeling of the neighbourhood was a bit like Ossington today. And like Queen West itself, Niko and Anthony moved on to other ventures including working in film and TV for some of the biggest celebrities, and opening an award winning hotel in Costa Rica. Recently they both ended up back in Toronto and decided to get back into business together again, this time in our neighbourhood.
They discovered the location while back in Toronto walking around various neighbourhoods and decided this was the spot. They are still putting the final touches on the design including purchasing a video game console for the men’s lounge downstairs and putting a turntable coffee table in the main room where they plan to play vinyl on Friday nights between 5-10 pm for those customers that want a little old school music with their hair styling.
They are also very committed to the safe treatment of animals. Nico created a line of ECO and PETA friendly hair products called “Hair Hero”, and they have devoted part of their profits and build awareness for WSPA, the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
We are used to seeing a few celebrities on the street, but expect to see more coming in and out of their stylish shop. Their client list includes many names we’ve all heard of including Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Robert Wagner (you remember him, right?), and many many more.
Follow their adventures now on their Facebook page, and I’m sure we’ll see them more on other social media platforms soon as their business evolves.
For those who can’t get there soon, here’s a few shots of the interior:
Nico working on the reception computer:
The men’s lounge:
Hair wash stations:
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