In Pakistan’s high-end hairstyling business, a not-so-new player makes a move

In 2005, Michael Kanaan had just arrived in Pakistan. For a Lebanese hairstylist, it was more than just far away from home. It was a place he never would have expected to find himself. That year, the Cedar Revolution was raging in his home country of Lebanon, where Syrian Occupation Forces had controlled the small Levantine state for nearly three decades. 

At the time, Kanaan was working in the United Arab Emirates. Even in 2005, the UAE was a uniquely positioned market. Up and coming, Dubai in particular was the testing ground for a lot of individuals that wanted to make it big in the world of high-end fashion. For Kanaan, and many other designers and stylists like him from developing countries, the dream destination was New York, Paris, and Milan. 

So what on earth brought him to Pakistan? Well, it was a bit of a coincidence. His work was noticed by a prominent person in the Hashoo Group, which owns Pearl Continental Hotels in Pakistan. At the time, the group was looking for someone to enter a partnership with them to run their in-house hair salon. The biggest competition to PC was Avari, particularly in Lahore and Karachi. Avari was also home to Tariq Amin, one of Pakistan’s premier hair stylists. So when Michel was told he would be leading the way for a large five-star hotel chain in Pakistan, it was an offer he took up. 

But the job was not exactly what he was expecting. The high-end salon industry in Pakistan was not exactly ‘with it’ at the time. On top of this, there were disagreements with the Hashoo Group itself. In particular Kanaan wanted to run his salon his own way, but the Hashoo Group seemed to see it less as a partnership of equals. After a three-year stint running salons at PC and Hotel One, Kanaan left. But he did not leave Pakistan. Why? According to him, he saw potential in the Pakistani market because it had a large population, an upper-class willing to spend on how they look, and a clear dearth of modern styling. 

Just how true has this proven to be? Two-decades on and Kanaan is still very much in Pakistan. He has operated from Islamabad, shirking expansion, and focusing instead on providing high-end and high-margin services at fewer locations. That is until now. Kanaan, whose salon goes by the name Michael K, has opened an outlet in Lahore, stepping outside of its domain for the first time. But what does this mean for the very small and intense world of high-end salons in Pakistan?