Designer: Sergio Mannino Studio
Project: Glam Seamless
Location: Soho, New York
Size: 1900 ft2
Year: 2018
Photography: Sergio Mannino
Glam Seamless is a well-established online business dedicated to high-quality, high-end hair extensions founded by Alexandra Cristin. Until now, Glam has been an entirely online venture. In early 2018, Cristin contacted Sergio Mannino to create her first shop in Soho, NYC. A few months down the track, and Glam Seamless is up and running.
As an online business, Glam is pink, white and – you guessed it – glam. We needed to translate this brand into a physical space; at Sergio Mannino Studio, this is our job, and we love it. Designing the ‘physical version’ of an online brand is always an interesting challenge – and we know how important it is to succeed at the first attempt.
The salon is a smooth cream and millennial pink, with shimmering ombre string curtains defining and separating the two areas of the store. Together with the color scheme, the curtains contrast elegantly with the clean, modern-retro-inspired lines of the salon counters and displays. The displays are part glass, part sheer surface and part handmade pink Terrazzo tiles.
One of the design challenges we faced in this project was incorporating the pretty in pink-ness of Glam’s brand into the design – which is its main aesthetic. Baby pink is a difficult color, because it all too easily makes a space feel childish or just too cutesy. The light wooden floor, the subtly textured Terrazzo tiles, the glass in various places throughout the design, and the bold shapes of the lights and custom mirrors all helped to offset this. We wanted a feminine space that was soft but strong – and these design decisions came together to make it happen.
Glam Seamless – the brand – enables both the convenience of the online and the social experience of the physical in the expanding world of hair extensions. At Sergio Mannino Studio we loved translating the Glam aesthetic into a beautiful space right in the heart of spicy Soho.
