Joel Warren, co-founder of celebrity hair salon chain Warren-Tricomi, is launching a new salon concept with Saks Fifth Avenue.
The partnership comes after Saks split with former salon partner John Barrett, Hillary Clinton’s personal hairdresser, and filed an $11 million lawsuit against Barrett that has since been settled.
The Salon Project by Joel Warren will be a national rollout of new hybrid Saks salons that will launch this fall in Garden City, Long Island.
The concept revolves around a client working with a single stylist from check-in to check-out.
“We are revolutionizing the salon industry and creating the salon of the future,” Warren said.
“It is a new concept, like taking Apple, Sephora and a high-end salon and mixing them all together.
“It’s a place to go where a woman comes in and gets taken care of, with the best trained stylists, curated products and gorgeous facilities. It will be a totally new experience in beauty, and a new category,” Warren said.
Instead of having the client move from station to station, all of the services — color, cut and wash — will be provided in one chair by the same person in hopes of making the experience more intimate and customized.
The salon will also have augmented reality technology so that clients can virtually try a cut, color or extensions before buying in.
It will also feature a medical spa, private rooms and manicure-pedicures. Warren is also launching his own line and will work as a brand incubator to showcase independent retail lines in the space.
The Manhattan salon, in the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue, will be a 3,000-square-foot space “flooded with natural light, like a New York City penthouse,” Warren said.
The national rollout will include at least 12 salons.