The sleek, chic salon just off Brick Lane

Avant-garde is one of those oft-bandied around phrases that we like to attribute to those phenomena that manage to predict the trend, arrive there before anyone else and then cruise to dizzy heights of cool.  Not often can you really say that someone has foreseen a fashion or craze, even if through chance or serendipity.

When Vision Hairdressers’ Director Alberto decided establish his salon in Shoreditch, it was a million miles away from the buzzing East London hub that is today.  Vision has been 9 years at its home on Dray Walk, part of the Old Truman Brewery just off Brick Lane, and 13 years in the Shoreditch area.

The first creative hair salon to hit the East End, it has become a touchstone for the numerous cool salons in the area.   But Vision is no gimmick-reliant salon, nor do its prices reflect an overly opulent interior.  It’s a beautiful space, split into two levels showcasing a minimalist theme that sets off the large photographs that in turn showcase the work of the (London Fashion Week-regular) creative team.

Entering the salon I was greeted by the charming and interested staff, who remembered me from a trip many moons ago when my roots were dark, my hair was platinum and my ends were fried.  Oh the joys of all-over bleach!  I was offered an iced mint tea; a gorgeously refreshing spin on the Moroccan favorite.  Alberto himself was tending to my very own bird’s nest, and after a long consultation we decided to rework the layers and style it with an 1950′s pin-up twist.

Products-wise Bumble and Bumble dominate the shelves, alongside the hair world’s latest obsession – MoroccanOil.  If you haven’t already heard of this then you must have been living in a cave for the last three months (or at least not getting your hair cut.)   This luxurious product nourishes hair from within (don’t they all say that?) but really does seems to do the trick.  Applying it to wet hair before styling, my hair felt unbelievably soft and actually shone for the first time in months.

If you too want to banish frizz on a more long-term basis, Vision also offers permanent hair straightening, a process which – and if you’ve ever borne witness to it you will understand – would test the patience of even the most fashion-conscious saint.  Each small section of the hair is coated in solution and straightened individually – Vision’s system of choice is Yuko System, although they are currently looking to expand the range of services to include Brazilian Hair Straightening.

The deco lives up to the hype too!

There’s a full range of services as you would expect, with specialists in cut and colour – whether you’re looking for something seriously zeitgeisty or just a simple trim. And for the time-poor Londoner, the salon is open seven days a week, meaning that you can spend Sunday browsing the delights of Spitalfields before popping along to Vision for a relaxing blowdry. Alternatively you can combine drinks and a cut on Thursday and Friday evenings when the salon stay open until late. It might be an ideal to schedule the cocktails after the cut though…

And did the hair live up to the hype?  Post head massage and mint tea and the intoxicating parfum of my MoroccanOil treatment I was so relaxed I would have smiled and said something nice to Fidel Castro if he’d walked in the salon, but really my hair did look fabulous:  shaped layers that rolled up and sat bouncing on my shoulders.  And so soft! Obviously the uber-cool surroundings of the Brick Lane provide the perfect environment to show off one’s new style too. Plus there’s the added attraction of the area’s vintage boutiques – an outfit to wear with the new ‘do is a necessary indulgence!

For more information, see the Vision website, or you can book online here.