Salon Spotlight: Lunatic Fringe In Salt Lake City, UT

By Jelani Addams Rosa & Powered By L’Oreal Professional Products Division

Shawn Trujillo and Angie Katsanevas don’t just have a love story for the ages; they have a love story that started an empire—literally. After meeting and falling in love in a hair salon more than 25 years ago, the hairstylist couple became business partners and opened Lunatic Fringe salon in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1999. Two decades years after first opening its doors, Lunatic Fringe has expanded to more than 10 locations in four states.

To get the scoop on how the married couple built their impressive hair empire and why you should book your next appointment at Lunatic Fringe, read on

The Brand

Katsanevas and Trujillo knew they wanted to work in the hair industry at a very young age, having been inspired by iconic hairstyles on TV and in movies during the ‘80s. While both stylists settled on their career paths relatively early, it would take another few years before they crossed paths.

Given their love of hair, it should come as no surprise that the couple first met when Katsanevas became a client at Trujillo’s salon. She just happened to sit down at the station next to his. It didn’t take long for the two to strike up a friendship, which quickly turned into a working relationship.

“When he was a hairdresser I was just starting beauty school, so we did meet in the salon and then I started going to beauty school,” Katsanevas explains. “Then I worked in the salon as his assistant for a while.”

In 1999, Katsanevas and Trujillo departed from the salon where they first fell in love. They opened Lunatic Fringe, a salon set on catering to the professional development of pros.

After working side-by-side for more than four years, Katsanevas and Trujillo were ready to take their love and knowledge of the hair industry to the next level and open up a salon of their own. While they loved the work behind the chair, they wanted to create an environment that would encourage people to continue to learn and grow within the hair industry.

“We started to feel successful behind the chair and the business model that we were working under didn’t really foster or cultivate that ongoing education and the customer service experience,” Trujillo explains.

The Locations

It didn’t take long for Lunatic Fringe to build a cult-like following. Just two years after opening their 600-square-foot salon, they expanded into a new space that was more than double the size of the original. Four years after opening the business, the couple unveiled their second location in Salt Lake City.

“We started to create this demand of people who wanted to work with us...in the first location when we expanded it was because we were bursting at the seams with a waiting list of people who wanted to work there,” Trujillo says. “That’s when we went on to the second location and so on. We never opened without the demand being there.”

Like many creatives, Katsanevas and Trujillo weren’t satisfied just leaving their mark on the greater Salt Lake City area. Five years later, they partnered with another couple to open a new location in Idaho

“We took a bet on them because we didn’t know anything about Boise,” Katsanevas says. “We just knew that these two were passionate and they could take what we had done and recreate it, and they did. And we meet people randomly that are from Boise and say that they go to our salon over there and how much they love it.”

Since then, Lunatic Fringe has expanded to include two more locations in Ohio and three in Tennessee. No matter where you visit them, Katsanevas and Trujillo promises you’ll receive the same level of service no matter which location you visit.

“It’s really important that we keep the integrity of our name and uphold the values of the company so that the guest and stylists will have the same experience they’d have in Salt Lake City,” Katsanevas says.

The Products

Part of maintaining the same level of integrity from location to location is stocking each salon with the highest-quality hair products. After coming across Kérastase in a high-end salon while on vacation in Greece, the salon owners knew they had to carry the products in their salons. The couple struck up a relationship with the brand, becoming the very first salon in Utah to carry Kérastase products.

Katsanevas stands by the quality of the products, saying:

“A good quality product makes a stylist look good, it makes the color look good. If the integrity of the hair is good, then that is a reflection on the stylist and the salon. We feel that Kérastase has been a big part of our guest retention.”

The Services

Whether you decide to book an appointment at the original Salt Lake City location or one of the newer salons in Idaho, Ohio, or Tennessee, you’re guaranteed the same great services wherever you go. Lunatic Fringe salons offer a wide range of services including women’s haircuts ($40+), blowouts ($30+), partial highlights ($70+), and single-process color ($60+). While cut and color services are the most popular, the owners believe services like Kérastase’s Fusio-Dose treatment are what really set them apart.

“Treatments are not something just anyone can offer or they might not have a high of a quality product to offer,” Katsanevas says. “We are really known for our treatments, they’re a great add-on.”

The best part? Deep treatments start at just $25!

Whether you’re looking for a killer cut and color or affordable professional salon treatment, Lunatic Fringe has got you covered.