Osaka-based studio Sides Core cuts to the chase with Flux, a Kyoto hair salon that combines nostalgia with modernism.
Housed on the second floor of a former car showroom, designer Sohei Arao transformed the 148.5 sq m concrete enclave into an urban hairdressing refuge. The salon, founded by Kengo Nakamura, presents a theatrical concept to showcase staff’s hairdressing and styling skills in an immersive space, while also playing with perspective and perception.
In keeping with the parlour’s philosophy to create a ‘flowing’ yet inviting setting that exhibits talent, mirrors are suspended 1.5 m above the floor with only a small selection of key pieces filling cutting and styling areas, like Hans J Wegner’s Elbow chair and Jaime Hayón’s navy Piña seat.
Elsewhere, white draping curtains soften stark concrete silhouettes, enveloped by floor-to-ceiling windows that offer striking vistas of the cityscape. In harmony with its surroundings both in ethos and design, Flux’s intriguing use of depth, a characteristic of Kyoto’s architecture, prompts users to take a step through the looking glass – with the hair to match.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Sides Core website
ADDRESS
Sky House 2F
470 Zaimokucho, Nanajo-dori
Kyoto, Japan
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 showsThe Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to knowDesigning the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spotHeritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Diffar is a new Japanese hair brand making perfume oil at the foot of Mount FujiDiffar, a newly founded Japanese beauty brand, creates perfume oils for hair in its Mount Fuji laboratory that are set to travel the world
-
Japanese hair art: geiko wigmakers in Kyoto bring modernity to an age-old artIn the first of a three-part series on Japanese hair art, we visit the studio of a father-and-son team in Kyoto, making wigs for the city’s geishas
