Sporting With Style!

Naturals chose Coimbatore to launch its new concept, where the salon is nestled amidst a high street and residences, and also a perfect place to test market. "Our designer Saran understands the salon business and was asked to bring in the sports theme with a youthful feel and keep off the signature purple theme. Besides the décor, we have the popular Viraat Kohli cut, Dhoni cut and these are done by specialists.  People can also play video games, board games and more. The salon was inaugurated by Sania Mirza and has had an overwhelming response. Our plan is to test market for nine months and then scale it up," says Kumaravel.

The space draws inspiration from athletes and sportsmen in action and so props play a key role in getting the look and feel right. Ashateet Saran, Design Head, Saran Associates says, "The brief from the client was to create a salon with a sports theme, which would be more experiential than merely looking so. The challenge was to fit in salon and spa services besides the physical and digital sports concept also into 1350 sq. ft. Even though the space was small, by using see through partitions and glass, we created an illusion of a big space. The balance in various types of sport was done with each room being dedicated to a particular sport.”

The design language of the space is base on motion and action. Sports is all about action, so the focal point of the salon is the styling and hair mirror stations. To bring in motion, a curvilinear form takes over the backdrop of styling stations. To make it more interesting, they have a Federer on motion. To make the space look bigger, rectangular pipes were used instead of a regular blocked partition, which added more drama to the motion concept. Even the chairs used for styling are done with clear acrylic to add to the wow factor. The ceiling has a convex football framework. This big dominating structure is hung from the ceiling with wires to give a feel of football in air. Again to make it look more interesting, it's transparent with a backlit effect of the football stitching pattern.

"The palette consists of bright colours, with brownish orange in the styling partition that represents the clay court of the French Open and the athletic tracks. The aqua blue is used in gaming zone to represent water sports. The female makeup room is done up with Wimbledon theme including vintage wooden racquets,” Saran says.

Different sports take over different zones in the salon's interiors such as the facial cum massage rooms in themes like, basketball, archery, boxing, etc.

A warm and inviting feel was created through their lighting strategy. The higher lux levels in the styling area or the mood lighting for facial rooms has been designed to cater to the beauty services offered at particular areas. Some of the light fixtures go with the theme and serve the functional purpose too, eg football pendant lamps over back wash.

The layout has been designed to ensure flow of services and openness of salon styling area. All private rooms and facial rooms are placed along the wall to ensure free space in the centre to ensure easy movement of customers and service providers alike.

VM was also handled by Ashateet Saran, where every element and prop used enhances the story for the brand. The key VM elements are a bunch of shuttle cocks with LED bulbs suspended from the ceiling to create an interesting pendant light. Storage units are done up with football club logos, while sofa cushions carry football heroes.

Sports bars are a passé, as sports salon is the in thing today.  Naturals Sports Salon is the first of its kind in India, which was recently launched in the bustling city of  Coimbatore. C.K. Kumaravel, CEO, Naturals recounts how this trendy concept took shape, "Sachin Tendulkar and I were chatting and he suddenly said that we have so many sports bars, but why not a sports salon?  I liked the idea as sporting celebs are connected to style and fashion. No longer is being a sportsperson restricted to just being trained in sport, they are groomed and taught how to carry themselves.”