Cutting edge is not usually a phrase coined for salon design, but when Nickolas Gurtler Interior Design was engaged to create a transformative space for Cole Hair Studio in Double Bay, Sydney, it was the perfect opportunity to dial up the glamour.

With luxury fashion retail experience running deep through his veins – he worked with Gucci in 2009 in visual merchandising – he had plenty to draw upon for the brief to create a salon with a luxurious, sexy and sophisticated feel.“We were really drawn to how powerful the women looked,”Gurtler says.“We wanted the space to make the clients of Cole feel that same way by being in the space.”

Armed with such bold references and along with salon owner, Mariah Rota, Gurtler and his team set out to help Cole clients feel like the iconic supermodels of the 90s, in a design never before seen. Now complete, the transformation showcases 120-square-metres of floor space featuring eight stations and a hair extension education section.

Gucci’s 1996 triangular shapes mixed with figure hugging curves is influenced in the salon’s bold reception counter, while the 2001 collection is translated into the design with panels of reeded glass mimicking fabric. Differing layers of texture in the material palette is also used to great effect. For example, NGID sourced slabs of Jurassic marble, with a wave-like pattern reminiscent of flowing tresses of hair, set against a sleek palette of black leather and chrome detailing.

Other highlights include custom walnut and boucle sofas, providing a warming element inspired by the Gucci collections, plastered stucco and fluted glass. As for clients, individual stations forgo the traditional open large-scale mirrors with private, well-illuminated stations with space for clients’belongings. Concealed LED lighting on either side of the mirror is strategically designed for perfect lighting – and selfies.