Profile

Housed in an industrial loft offset with titanium workstations and fluorescent orange and pink walls, Rare is the brainchild of industry heavyweight Ruth Roche, who’s styled A-listers like Lindsay Lohan and Sharon Stone and had her work snapped by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. Before opening this laid-back salon in 2003 — the same year she was awarded Master Stylist at the North American Hairstyling Awards — the California native worked with renowned British hairdresser Trevor Sorbie and was the Global Artistic Director of Design for product-giant Redken. The indie-glam clientele she’s acquired since then come to her and her team for their versatility in cuts and color as well as their Milbon Japanese Straightening treatments and their Great Lengths hair extensions. — Alysha Brown

In addition to the salon, Roche runs a hair academy for licensed hair professionals, with specialized crash-courses like the two-day inShape and three-day inVision.