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Salon to the stars

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design, 5/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Fred Segal Beauty has a new face. And a new body, too. Once essentially just a hair salon, the 12-year-old fixture at the Fred Segal fashion emporium, Los Angeles, has jumped on the "holistic" beauty bandwagon by expanding services. A day spa and a shop, de rigueur for post-pampering supplies, now complete the look-good-feel-good package.

For the uninitiated, Fred Segal's Santa Monica and Melrose Avenue venues are both meandering complexes of single-story buildings divided into boutiques. Wares—from shoes and bags to sportswear and evening finery—share a common denominator: They're all cutting-edge chic.

So is Fred Segal Beauty, thanks to a redo by (M)Arch. The firm's principal, Todd Erlandson, and collaborating designer Craig Rizzo inherited a Santa Monica site blessed with six skylights, a 14-foot ceiling, and floors of light oak and concrete. Leaving this envelope intact, Erlandson and Rizzo appropriated an adjacent boutique and rearranged spaces to make sense of the new L-shape floor plan.

If lucky enough to find parking in the notoriously cramped lot, one arrives—in a semi-relaxed state—at reception, located at the nexus of the project's three components. A plastic-laminate and laminated-glass desk, lit from within, introduces a clean, monolithic approach that recurs in cabinetry throughout. To the left, the salon buzzes with energy. To the right lies the hushed serenity of the spa.

"Our first job was to analyze the environment," says (M)Arch.'s cofounder and marketing director, Sherry Hoffman. "Research showed us that the styling itself was the most interesting thing going on, so our design became a backdrop to support the stylists." Or, as co-owner Michael Baruch put it, the design should make the hair process visible.

To achieve these goals, (M)Arch. reversed the traditional salon model. Instead of wall-bound styling stations, custom versions occupy center stage. The five pre-finished laminated-plywood units each accommodate four stylists apiece. Anchored to power sources by electrical cords dropped from the ceiling, the units are still mobile enough to clear the floor for fashion shoots.

Nor are gloriously tinted tresses the result of mysterious back-room ministrations. The Corian top of a U-shape bar, developed with L'Oréal as a prototype, displays product possibilities. Opposite, an aluminum-framed glass storefront encloses a treatment area for the Kérastase line. "Vita-cement fortifying" and "masquintense" hair treatments take place in Philippe Starck's leather-covered armchairs, equipped with integral ceramic bowls.

The salon's show-all approach extends to displays of product—potions of worldwide provenance arrayed on plastic-laminate shelving—and even to client commentary. Right in the middle of the styling area, doodles and assorted expressions of gratitude graffiti a painted fiberglass column. Only the shampoo area is quasi-screened from view, tucked behind plastic curtains in a translucent blood-orange color (actually welding sheets).

The glamorous pose of the salon—complete with cowhide-upholstered seating under the dryers and in the waiting room—gives way to a Zen vibe in the spa's separate waiting area. Set off by a frosted-glass wall, the space presents a study in cream and chocolate. Ultrasuede upholstery, a flokati rug, and a low Corian table slab contrast with stained-concrete flooring, plus a console and side tables of pre-finished plywood.

From here, clients proceed to one of the spa's six treatment rooms. A facial or Thai yoga massage later, everyone departs chilled out, glammed up, and ready to face the freeway again.

From top: At Fred Segal Beauty in Los Angeles, Kérastase hair products line up on a plastic-laminate tabletop. An aluminum-framed storefront system sets off the 100-square-foot treatment area for Kérastase; Philippe Starck designed the leather-upholstered chairs with integral ceramic bowls.

From top: Plastic welding sheets curtain the salon's shampoo area. For the spa's lounge, Todd Erlandson chose a Corian table, Ultrasuede upholstery, a flokati rug, voile draperies, and oil paintings by Danny Maltzman. Clients are invited to leave their mark on the painted column that stands amid the salon's custom styling stations of pre-finished laminated plywood.

SHELVING PLASTIC LAMINATE (KRASTASE ROOM): ABET. STOREFRONT SYSTEM: TOWN COUNTRY GLASS; ART METAL (FRAMING). CHAIRS, SINKS: MALETTI GROUP. CUSTOM LIGHT BOX, CABINETRY: AM CABINETS. LIGHT-BOX, CABINETRY CORIAN (KRASTASE ROOM), TABLE CORIAN (WAITING AREA): DUPONT. WELDING SHEETS (SHAMPOO AREA): JOHNSTON INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION. CHAIRS (SHAMPOO, STYLING AREAS): TAKARA BELMONT. SEATING (WAITING AREA): WEST ELM; TORAY ULTRASEUDE (UPHOLSTERY). RUG: J.C. PENNEY COMPANY. CUSTOM DRAPERY: INTERIOR SPECIALTIES GROUP. FLOOR STAIN: INVISTA. CUSTOM STATIONS (STYLING AREA): A-N-A TRENDS; NORTH AMERICAN PLYWOOD CORPORATION (LAMINATED PLYWOOD). LIGHTING CONSULTANT: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ILLUMINATION. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: C.M. PECK CONSULTING. MEP: STORMS LOWE. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: MONROE CONSTRUCTION.