Kristen Stewart, Emma Watson, and Hayley Kiyoko All Frequent This Technicolor Hair Salon

For some, a trip to the hair salon is a source of excitement, a welcome reprieve from daily life. For others, it’s an anxiety-inducing necessity—how will you hold a conversation with the hairdresser for the duration of your time in the chair? Will you be happy with your new look? Will it have been a good use of cash?

For clients of HAIR Los Angeles, a trip to the salon is an invitation to reconnect with one’s most creative self. Yes, all trips to the salon are about transformation in ways both grand and small, but from the treatments to the experience of occupying the space itself, HAIR emboldens visitors to indulge their most eccentric of whims. The salon has made a name for itself off of its immaculately executed, boundary-pushing bright dos. Founder Daniel Moon has built out a client list that includes a range of Hollywood heavyweights: Emma Watson, Kristen Stewart, and Hayley Kiyoko are just a few of the many famous faces who’ve walked through the doors of HAIR Los Angeles. Now, thanks to a recent refresh, visitors from all walks of life can expect an even more inspiring view from their salon chair.

Like the styles the clients leave with from the salon, the vivid space didn’t happen without a little elbow bleach—er, grease. To help with the design of the space, Daniel Moon’s similarly stylish fiancée Nicole Reber stepped up. Nicole’s artistic eye was honed during years in the New York art scene, but nowadays her taste is put to use most regularly as a realtor at Douglas Elliman in Beverly Hills. Their respective styles coincide and complement each other, so even beyond the convenience of collaborating with one’s partner, HAIR was sure to end up with a space that felt as true to its spirit as possible.

An array of plants surrounds one of the hairwashing stations.

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Dorothy Draper fabric covers the bathroom.

CamrafaceThe vanities were custom made by Luc Fuller of Spiritual Objects. The painting at the right is by Alicia Ademerovich.Camraface

The vanities are most central to the space and to the guest’s experience in it, so naturally they were the central element to the project too. Artist Greg Ito, a friend of Daniel’s who also gets his hair done at the salon, recommended Luc Fuller of Spiritual Objects. Luc’s sculptural furniture felt appropriately bold but not overwhelming, and once Daniel and Nicole realized Luc coincidentally lived just down the block from their own home, the kismet was too intriguing to pass up. “We were really specific about the colors we chose for the stations. That was a multimonth process, because if you choose colors that are the wrong hue and you have a blonde and the green is too green, they’re going to start to see green in their hair,” Nicole says, explaining the more technical side of working on the vanities. “They’re going to start to see the wrong things.”

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“When I started the initial sketches for the vanities, I kept thinking about the transformative power of cutting, coloring, extending, braiding, and styling hair, and how it is perhaps truly the most uniquely human and universal form of culture that takes place around the world,” Luc wrote in a statement about the project. “Using positivity and transformation as a starting point, I couldn’t help but think that there isn’t a more positive, transformative image, symbol, or even metaphor than a blossoming flower.”

The flower motif occurs again in the use of Dorothy Draper’s prints. On a trip to The Greenbrier hotel in West Virginia, the couple fell for the transportive quality of Greenbrier designer Dorothy Draper’s interiors. They became enamored with the legendary designer’s story, especially with the love of color and pattern that she so clearly shared with them. On cushions, in the waiting room furniture, and even lining the bathroom, Dorothy Draper’s florals are a constant in the space.

As fresh as the salon feels, Daniel and Nicole were trying to harness the comforting, communal energy of 20th-century salons that served as social hubs. Though the eye gravitates to the vanities, the artwork plays an essential supporting role that extends the importance of community in the space. Nicole and Daniel could have chosen to skimp on the art budget, but it was important that the pieces reflected their community and their shared history, and this meant putting on artists they’d matured with over the past decade.

“I think by having a space like this, it really allows people to let their guard down and be vulnerable to ideas,” Daniel says, speaking to how the design of the space impacts the client experience. “They come in and say, ‘I’ve never been to a place like this. You guys get it. No wonder you guys are the color people.’ I think that it goes hand in hand, because I work with a lot of artists as well, and they inspire us to keep working as hard as they’re working. If somebody’s always on tour, if somebody’s always dropping merch that we love, or if somebody’s always doing something that inspires us, when they come in, we want to be like, ‘Hey, I’m inspired by you. Check out what we’re doing.’” Perched in front of custom flower pot-shaped vanities and surrounded by vivid handpicked artworks, clients can envision whatever they want for their own appearance, past and present be damned.

Hairstylist and HAIR owner Danny Moon with his fiancée Nicole Reber, who worked on the creative direction of the salon. Art by Evan Robarts, Alicia Ademerovich, Wendell Gladstone, Greg Ito, and Claire Milbrath.

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The art pieces, clockwise from top left, are by Ian Faden, Julian Klincewicz, Sam Spano, Louisa Gagliardi, Eric Wiley, Petra Cortright, Anthony Cudahy, Marcel Alcala, Petra Cortright, Lauren Elder, Eric Wiley, and Petra Cortright.

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Artworks from left to right: photos by Sandy Kim, Ivar Wigan, Ivar Wigan, Sandy Kim, Archival Blacklight Poster from These Days, Sandy Kim, Nick Sethi.

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Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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