Certainly, wearing fine silks, wools, cottons, and linens can and will enhance one’s personal appearance. But, for Fumihiko Eguchi, there is no more important fabric than one’s hair.

“One can look great wearing the most expensive couture or the most comfortable pajamas and fuzzy slippers,” says Fumi, as his friends, clients, and colleagues call him. “Why? Because hair is the fabric we wear every day. And as a stylist, I learn as much as I can from my clients so I can design their hair and capture the best elements of their personality.”

Fumi’s signature concepts have found a new home in Proelle Salon, positioned as Salt Lake City’s first VIP hair salon. Located on the 13th floor of the Wells Fargo Building in downtown, the salon – following the tradition of signature shops in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles that have been operated by some of the best-known hair designers – will feature Fumi’s unique hair styles as well as hair care products that have previously been unavailable in the large swath of Wasatch Front hair and cosmetology stores.

Fumi, a native of Fukuoka, Japan, is no stranger to Salt Lake City. His professional vita includes working at such well-known salons as Keiji, mentoring under former Salt Lake City hair designer Tyson Daniel who has been involved with Bravo TV’s Shear Genius, successfully competing in the Las Vegas Hair World Championships, and serving as a product ambassador for Toni and Guy hair care products.

Attuned to hair texture and elements of colors and highlights with the well-tested precision of a research scientist, Fumi exclusively uses scissors to shape and texture his designs along with shampoo and color products from Japan. Much as a physician takes a detailed medical history from a new patient, Fumi consults with his clients, learning as much as he can about their lifestyles, experiences, and desires.

It’s evident in the small three-chair boutique salon that the focus is exclusively about hair. And Proelle is part of Fumi’s larger mission – creating a major industry brand where the value is situated in a triangulated concept of education, product, and salon design. The name is a fused variation of the terms essential to his branding concept – progressive and elements. Fumi’s singular vision is being developed much like the instinctive innovative directions of Enzo Ferrari coordinated so successfully in his eponymous automobile company. (Ferrari ranks highly among Fumi’s ideal business role models.) Avoiding traditional middleman distribution channels, Proelle will utilize direct trade online services to communicate directly with customers about products.

Fumi believes Salt Lake City makes perfect sense for headquartering the Proelle concept. Indeed, the Wasatch Front has become a popular destination for stylists and cosmetologists – nearly 23,000 licensed in the state. Looking at per capita numbers, the number of salons and cosmetology shops in Salt Lake City easily exceed those in the densely populated Southern California metropolitan areas. Yet, Fumi is clear about the salon’s exclusive positioning at the high end of the market where few, if any, comparable salons are available in the area. “With Proelle, we want to create a leading niche for innovation in exceptional design, hair care education, and salon product,” he explains. He also has trained extensively each stylist.

Fumi also says that as the state’s economy continues to grow and attract new industry, the local customer is increasingly becoming “fashion forward” in orientation. Yet, as one might readily embrace unique, progressive clothing fashions, hair often represents a cautious border where even daring customers might hesitate about crossing before they entrust their hair to a new designer. Fumi recalls a close friend and confidante who steadily brought female clients to have their hair styled but “it took him three years to let me do his hair.” Now his friend never hesitates to let Fumi style his hair.

That sense of personal trust is essential to Fumi’s salon concept. Clients are warmly greeted and served the beverage of their choice. Sensitive to a person’s time demands, Fumi deftly and expeditiously handles consultations – zeroing in quickly on how he can create an effectively balanced color and design profile for the client. The Proelle service is remarkably similar to what one expects at a great sushi restaurant when he or she goes omakase, which literally means entrusting the chef. And, like a great restaurant experience where the customer’s care and satisfaction matter so greatly, clients can expect a Proelle appointment to last between one and two and one-half hours – all part of Salt Lake City’s first VIP concept salon.