5 minute read
INDESIGN
The New X
Offering something boutique before boutique was a trend, the new Salon X is more intimate than ever – with tonality and heart from the boisterous personalities within to the softness of a handmade mecca of contrasts. We take a look inside this renovated A-list wonderland, writes Cameron Pine.
It’s Miami meets the gold detailing of an almost bygone luxury era. Perfectly combining a cosy yet highly functional atmosphere with Paris glam and lots of colour, Salon X sports noticeable detail and luxury at every turn.
It’s little wonder why Salon X has an army of regulars many salons would be envious of. It’s part of the distinct William street Paddington community akin to the iconic establishments like Alimentari café next door, a unique café that adequately sums up the Paddington culture of guests with Palm Beach houses in the Summer and ski chalets in the Winter. Clearly Salon X is right on the money.
Guests can have the best of both too, as Alimentari brings food in as requested with a plate and cutlery just like they were dining next door at the café. When it comes to luxury you can’t skimp on the details and Salon X is miles ahead, and not just from a design perspective.
The more colourful new salon combines a touch of the marble and brass-gold fittings of its original fitout with touches of new everywhere you turn. Here interior designer Marie Xydis has perfectly harmonised the existing with the new.
According to editorial queen and longterm passionate salon owner Renya Xydis, it’s important to update salons constantly now. “Clients like to feel like they are somewhere overseas, that they’ve had a real escape and they want it to feel personal,” she said.
“Clients constantly tell us that they love our salons because they can hide away and every room looks and feels different. They love how the salon has real soul."
Over two levels the salon juxtaposes the bold with the new. Every aspect has been designed to feel like a journey, interpreting a global influence into an Australian culture.
With a more bespoke, lounge room feeling upstairs leading onto a tiled terrace, the salon, unlike many terraces, blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors – with outdoor spaces over both levels, staff staff and clients are immersed in the vibe that dreams are made of.
Renya wanted to give clients something special and hand-made with beautiful soft tones so that they always feel like wherever they sit that they are somewhere cosy with a close family. This is further realised by creating ‘personal style’ through two artists with work that is definitively different but still complementary, taking you on a real journey of the senses.
“Our aim was to create a more spacious, fun, fresh and colourful environment with a touch of glam,” said Marie. This was well-achieved by weaving materials with varying colours and textures with metallics.
Soft pink with hand-brushed art by Xela Studio, mixed with colour of the moment deep green, meet a highly dramatic staircase ‘La Palma’ Wallpaper by Catherine Martin. Amtico wooden floors paired with textured De Poortere carpet up the stairs evoke colour and creativity but also quality. Leading Dulux paints, tiles by Italian brand DiLorenzo and a mix of luxurious timber and cane give a real resort feel by ‘detail joiners’. If you’re into interiors you’ll notice there was no ‘cheap’ imitation shortcut anywhere in the salon by any stretch.
Taking more than six months to finalise the design concept, Marie and Renya and a team of creatives worked to utilise more space in the salon. They added an upstairs marble table for colour and some 'time out' while still incorporating a regal beauty room, with a host of beauty services for clients wanting it all. Operated solely by the one therapist, there is a distinct personal element to every salon service whereby both leading editorial stylists and coloursists come together and spend time with their client every step of the service.
The overall mood was played on contrasts – a true dialogue between taste and function and a meltdown of textures so that you really don’t feel like you’re in a salon. Salon X proves how an investment in property by also owning the premises creates great value when investing in quality and lasting design. In this case Renya and Marie are an inimitable creative pair, understanding each other to a point where the salon is akin to an island of colour with an atmosphere full of warm tonalities and personalities.
It’s not a big space, over two levels of approximately 80 square metres each.
Marie admits one of the biggest challenges of the design was managing the different trades so they weren’t working on top of each other which became rather difficult within such a detailed design.
“The wallpaper up the staircase is one of my favourite aspects of the salon as it blended all of the other elements together. It’s interesting, exciting, warm and fresh all at once – just like the salon,” Renya said.
“There are hand-painted flowers we call the ‘Gucci room’ with lots of birds and butterflies for freedom mixed with beautiful florals, so that everywhere your eye goes you will see something different and special.”
From the entry to the outdoor, “Both salons (Salon X and Valonz) have distinct personalities, they are inviting, they ooze creativity, they sound and smell great and the staff are always ‘on’,” she said.
Renya likens the variation to the comparison that Valonz is the louder heartbeat but Salon X is more like backstage at fashion week – still energetic but with a more bespoke feel. “The new Salon is also much more feminine, softer and creative."
It was important to enhance the customer experience while retaining the spirit of a sprawling space where clients never feel rushed or part of a production line. Well-lit but without being bright and over-bearing, the salon has lighting overhead mixed with detail upon detailed pieces of wall lights, hanging lamps, pendants and little touches you’d expect from a top-tier hotel.
We are talking about the creative place for some of Australia’s leading hairdressers and Renya after-all, it was always going to be far from ordinary.
The new X really speaks to Renya’s penchant for the ornate and opulent – embracing the grandeur of the past with the beat of now. It then twists in a breath of Miami breeze and the same family-life you’d expect in a modern home. There’s no denying Salon X has had another chapter added to its rich history in hairdressing.
For more information visit www.valonz.com.au
