When avant-garde hair stylist Pascal Lancien was seeking a new look for his latest salon, in the town of Marseille, he called up emerging French designer Margaux Keller. The Marseille native, who cut her teeth at Benetton’s Fabrica communications research centre in Italy, has also conceived designs for such companies as Habitat and Roche Bobois.
Situated in Les Terrasses du Port, a waterfront shopping centre with almost 200 restaurants and retailers, the Le Coiffeur hair salon – which Keller designed in partnership with architect Betrand Guillon – is made up of a pastel palette of turquoise, grey and yellow to reflect its seaside surroundings. While the feel of the space is contemporary, thanks to black steel accents and furniture with a Scandi-aesthetic, southern French touches were also incorporated. Take for example, the shampoo area housed in a one-sided wooden cabana inspired by the cabins of local fishermen, and the flooring in raw concrete and honeycomb-shaped Provençal tiles.
Cutting and styling take place at individual desks compose of ash with hooded mirrors for added privacy; the suspended hand-blown glass pendants are inspired by the form of vintage hairdryers. Almost all the furniture is custom designed by Keller, who generally works with craftspeople such as cabinet makers, ceramists, and other material experts, and manufactured in Italy.