Profile

Japanese stylist Aki Serita spent a decade serving private clients in Manhattan before striking out on her own in 2004 with a hair emporium and design shop right off the L train. Her space is decorated à la Tokyo chic—you might easily mistake it for one of Williamsburg’s gallery spaces; shampoo chairs are set, smartly, at the back of the room under an enormous sloping skylight so clients can catch the sun’s rays during their suds-and-complimentary-aromatherapy sessions. At its handful of workstations, the salon does brisk business in chunky highlights and wearable, choppy styles. Aside from razor cuts and shiny protein glazes, Aki herself curates the rotating selection of local wares on display including vintage curios, handmade soaps, and intricate silk slips (by the salon’s private label). Commune also features buzzy jewelry designs like Yayoi Forest, Digby & Iona, and IL Design, plus kimono kitsuke, the ancient art of kimono wrapping that’s traditionally done in Japanese beauty salons. — Carolyn Murnick