Love Is Love is Breaking Norms in the Capitol Hill Area

Are you looking for a place to get a haircut? Perhaps you are wanting a new color so you can live out your dreams of being the main character in an anime. Maybe you want to show off your pride. No matter the reason, you’re looking for a salon that caters to your needs. Love Is Love is a lovely local hair salon in downtown Denver, located at 450 E 17th Ave Unit 100, Denver, CO, 80203, and I don’t think you’ll find a more queer-focused salon in such a great area. 

I had the privilege of visiting the salon, and as I entered, I was first struck with how chic and cool it  looks. With open, natural lighting and sleek black chairs, the modern look of the salon exudes a comforting feel while still being incredibly fashionable.

Love Is Love’s website contains the beautiful sentiment: “Freedom is the right to choose, even if that is just your hairstyle or color, or your friends or your lovers. Whether LGBTQ+ or simply an ally, love is love.”

The Capitol Hill area is an incredibly progressive zone for the LGBTQ community. There are several great bars and nonprofits, as well as The Center, the largest LGBTQ community center in the Rocky Mountain area. Love Is Love is another amazing addition to the region. 

I was also given the opportunity to interview Cassandra Zetlmaier, a senior stylist, and Megan Yarbough, the director of operations.

What is Love Is Love?

We are an inclusive, queer-focused salon. The owners of Love Is Love are a husband couple, and they have three other brands of salons, all independently branded. It was really important to them as a gay couple and also having a trans friend that they created a space that was inclusive to the LGBTQ community, and they felt that there is a big hole in that being available in Denver.

Could you tell me a little bit about your services?

All our services are gender-neutral. They are booked by the hair service, so we don’t have men’s and women’s cuts; everything is either a short haircut, a barber haircut, or a long cut. All our color services are just what they are. 

What is a barber cut?

A barber cut is any quick, sort of fast cutting service. Generally it is executed with clippers over using a scissor or comb technique, so it’s not an exact-precision cut.

What exactly was the inspiration behind the name Love Is Love?

Love Is Love is a powerful name in and of itself; it’s inclusive in and of itself, and when the owners of the salon were thinking about what they wanted to name a queer-focused salon, Love Is Love is something that just kind of resonated with them. It basically spoke that everybody is welcome, and everyone belongs, and everybody has a right to be who they are and love who they love.

Is there a reason for this location?

No, it actually fell into (the owners’) hands perfectly. It’s great that it’s in the Capitol Hill area; the previous owner (of the establishment) was looking to leave the state and wasn’t particularly looking to sell the salon but just looking to hand it over to somebody who was going to make it their dream. So it just kind of fell into their laps. Right location, right space.

Would you say this is their dream come true? 

It was just kind of right place, right time. I think that the owners had it in the back of their minds that they wanted to eventually do a salon that was LGBTQ-focused, and the fact that it fell into his lap that it’s in Capitol Hill, so close to The Center, who they have a close relationship with, it just kind of helped. Like, OK, this is meant to be.

To learn more about Love is Love, visit loveislovehairsalon.com.      

Photos courtesy of Love Is Love Hair Salon