For nine months of the year, “sleek Chicago hair” is an oxymoron. Blame the Lake Michigan gusts, the Midwestern winters, or the covert wind tunnels scattered throughout the Loop—it's hard to move about the city without your hair getting whipped into a frenzy. Plus, Chicago didn't jump on the dry-bar bandwagon until 2012, which means long-haired Chicagoans were blow-drying their own hair for decades. The horror!
Thankfully, the Canadian salon Civello is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary with a grand Midwestern takeover. On Wednesday, Civello will open three Chicago shops—in River North, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview—to tame Chicagoans' frenzied locks.
Founder Ray Civello cites the “many similarities” between Toronto and Chicago as one of the reasons for Civello's big move, as well as “the city's creativity.” And the Canadian hair guru suggests Chicagoans who usually just opt for a trim shake things up this year. People should don a new hair style every six months, says Civello, “to create excitement and keep people noticing.”
The Civello salons operate on a concept called “vision crafting,” wherein stylists attempt to understand customers' lifestyles, personality traits, and facial shapes before deciding on a cut—one that, ideally, will withstand that particularly awful wind tunnel at Washington and Michigan.
The new Civello shops are located at 1001 W. North Ave., 1637 W. Belmont Ave., and 621-623 N. State St.