Profile

Known for creating natural, sexy hair, celebrity stylist Stephen Knoll has tended to the tresses of Oscar-winners, socialites, and captains of industry, and all three worlds are on display at his buzzing Madison Avenue salon. Located on the second floor of an innocuous retail/office building, the sprawling 3,000-square-foot warren of rooms hosts everyone from would-be models to neighborhood office folk who come for sophisticated, unfussy cuts, color, and selected spa services. Clients decked out in black robes relax in the relatively subdued waiting area—decorated like a high-rent Upper East Side sitting room—before being ushered to one of three styling floors where black-clad assistants wash, set, and offer cappuccino. With more than a dozen stylists and almost as many colorists, clients of every age, image, and hair type can be matched with a specialist, whether for curls, short cuts, or African American hair; all use products from Stephen Knoll's celebrated haircare line. On-the-down-low celebrities (and execs who can't leave the office behind) can opt to take their services in a private back room, near where cult-favorite skincare guru Simi Fazeli provides her signature anti-aging and hydrating facials. — Carolyn Murnick

Knoll helps grooms with everything from beard and mustache trims to pedicures and manicures and even eyebrow-corraling. The back room is available for small parties, so the groom and groomsmen can make the pre-wedding haircut a time for male bonding.

Bridal
At the celebrity stylist’s sprawling local stomping ground, brides-to-be can request a separate room in which to get their hair and makeup done. Updo work by his extensive team starts at $250 and makeup applications at $300. (Prices are higher for Knoll himself.) Hairstyling and makeup at the wedding site can run “into the thousands.”

Related Stories

Best of New York Awards

• The Hair Hierarchy (2005)