Who We Are
The Sulking Room
Born from the gloriously overactive minds of Seagull visionaries Shaun Surething and Katie, The Sulking Room is not so much a salon as it is a mood—a meticulously crafted chamber for transformation, where self-expression is coaxed, not prescribed.
Set up on parlor level away from the din of the city, The Sulking Room is a light filled picture window of downtown magic. The Sulking Room draws on decades of irreverent glamour, queer wit, and downtown art-world fluency. It’s a place where hair isn’t just styled—it’s interpreted. Think salon-as-installation, gossip-as-glamour, haircut-as-happening.
The energy? Intimate, cerebral, slightly dramatic—like if a Joan Didion essay owned a pair of shears. Whether you’re looking for a structural reset or a soft undoing, the artists behind The Sulking Room deliver high-concept hair with low-key confidence.
Appointments are limited. Conversation is not.
The Place
Located behind a plate-glass façade on the cobblestoned edge of the Meatpacking District, The Sulking Room exists in quiet defiance of salon spectacle. From the street, it reads like a glimpse into a well-kept jewelry box—glowing, precise, and slightly mysterious.
This is not a salon of open-floor hustle and loud declarations. It’s an environment built for intimacy, discretion, and slow-burn transformation. The vibe leans hushed luxury—an elegant wink to Old New York romance tucked inside a space that favors tactility, stillness, and a very good lamp.
Shaun and Katie designed The Sulking Room as an aesthetic hideaway for clients who know what they want, or are ready to find out. Privacy is paramount, the energy is unhurried, and the work is quietly, undeniably excellent.
In a neighborhood that thrives on show, The Sulking Room invites you to retreat inward—to smolder instead of shine.
Culture & Vibe
Salon directors Shaun Surething and Katie Asaro traded the iconic sprawl of Seagull for something smaller, sharper, and far more seductive: The Sulking Room. Nestled street-level across from the Whitney Museum of American Art, this jewel-box suite distills decades of downtown salon culture into one elegantly-appointed, emotionally intelligent haircut at a time.
While the footprint has shrunk, the impact hasn’t. The walls continue to hold work by major artists—friends and collaborators whose pieces once rotated through Seagull’s storied space and remain part of its permanent collection: Liz Collins, Kathe Burkhart, A.L. Steiner, Alice O’Malley, K8 Hardy, Nicole Eisenman, Nolan Hendrickson, Andrea Geyer, Juliet Jacobson, Colin Self, Laura Parnes, and Sam McKinniss, among others.
The clientele? Artists, writers, editors, musicians, performers, and culture-makers of all stripes—people who want sharp hair, smarter conversation, and a space that feels as considered as the work they put into the world. The Sulking Room isn’t just a salon; it’s a compact chamber of clarity, where art meets beauty meets banter.