Elsternwick

The Richmond studio Elsternwick clients travel across town for when Glen Huntly Road cannot deliver the lived-in blonde, event styling or mother-of-the-bride finish they have in mind.

A Salon for Elsternwick Locals

Elsternwick is a suburb with a very particular sense of itself. Sitting around Glen Huntly Road between Brighton Road and Kooyong Road, nine kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD, it has been the heartland of Melbourne's Jewish community for generations, anchored by synagogues, kosher bakeries, day schools and a Glen Huntly Road shopping strip that still feels like a proper neighbourhood high street. Kohort sits about twenty to twenty-five minutes north in Richmond, at 234 Bridge Road, and we see a steady stream of Elsternwick locals who have decided the drive is worth it for the kind of slow, specialist hair appointment you cannot get at a rushed chain salon.

The Elsternwick we know is a mix. There are families who have lived in the postcode 3185 blocks between Hopetoun Gardens and Elsternwick Park for two or three generations, raising kids through Caulfield Grammar and Leibler Yavneh College. There are young professional couples moving into the period flats and semis around Ripponlea, drawn by the Sandringham line and the cafe strip. There are the older matriarchs and patriarchs who have been getting their hair done on Glen Huntly Road since the eighties and are starting to look for something more considered. There are bar mitzvah mothers, bat mitzvah mothers, mothers of the bride, and the brides themselves, who want a salon that understands event hair as a craft rather than a side service. Kohort was built for all of them.

Our Elsternwick clients tend to arrive with a clear brief. A soft, hand-painted balayage that grows out without a harsh line, because they are not interested in coming in every four weeks. A root touch-up that sits seamlessly into existing highlights rather than reading as a stripe. A silver-grey blend for a woman transitioning out of dyeing after twenty years. A full updo rehearsal three weeks before a wedding at Caulfield Racecourse or a simcha at the Glen Eira Town Hall. A cut that holds through the Melbourne humidity between Pesach and Rosh Hashanah without turning to frizz by the end of the night. None of that is hair you can trust to an unfamiliar stylist running three chairs at once, which is why so many Elsternwick regulars make the trip up to Bridge Road.

The drive sounds longer on paper than it feels in practice. Coming from Glen Huntly Road, most of our Elsternwick clients head up Hotham Street or Orrong Road, across Dandenong Road, and straight into Richmond via Punt Road or Chapel Street. Off-peak, you are at the door of 234 Bridge Road in twenty minutes. At worst, during a Friday evening run, it is twenty-eight. The trade-off for that drive is a three-and-a-half-hour colour service with no handover, a stylist who owns their chair and their column, and the kind of detail work that does not exist in a busy strip salon.

Getting to Kohort from Elsternwick

We are not around the corner, and we are upfront about that. The twenty to twenty-five minute drive from Elsternwick is real, and we build it into every consultation. What we hear from clients who make the trip is that the salon time itself is so unhurried that shaving ten minutes off the drive is not worth sacrificing the appointment experience.

The simplest route from Glen Huntly Road is north up Hotham Street, which rolls straight into Orrong Road once you cross Dandenong Road. Follow Orrong up through Armadale and Toorak, turn left onto Toorak Road, then right onto Punt Road, and Bridge Road is your first major cross-street once you drop down over the Yarra into Richmond. Turn right onto Bridge Road and we are on the north side between Lord Street and Docker Street, about 400 metres in. That route is around nine kilometres and sits in the twenty to twenty-five minute range outside of peak.

A second option is via Chapel Street. From Brighton Road, head up St Kilda Road, across the river, and north up Chapel through Windsor, Prahran and South Yarra, then right onto Toorak Road, left onto Punt Road, and onto Bridge Road. This route is slightly longer but more predictable on a Friday afternoon when Hotham Street banks up near the Alma Road intersection.

If you prefer to avoid driving entirely, the Sandringham line runs from Elsternwick Station directly into Flinders Street, where you can switch to a South Morang, Mernda, Hurstbridge or Belgrave/Lilydale train and jump off at East Richmond. From East Richmond Station, Kohort is a six-minute walk east on Bridge Road. All up, train-to-train is about thirty-five minutes door to door, which is only ten minutes more than driving and lets you skip the parking question entirely. Plenty of our Elsternwick clients use this as their default for a big colour day, especially if they are planning to grab lunch on Bridge Road afterwards.

Parking at the salon is straightforward. Metered on-street parking is available along Bridge Road, Lord Street, Docker Street and the surrounding grid. For longer colour appointments, Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre is about 500 metres east of the salon and has a large paid car park that runs all day. If you are coming from Elsternwick for a three or four hour colour correction, Victoria Gardens is our default recommendation. Avoid the two-hour limited spots on Bridge Road itself for long appointments.

Services Elsternwick Clients Love at Kohort

Elsternwick brings us a specific mix of work. Event styling, mother-of-the-bride prep, seamless grey blending, and the kind of polished blonde maintenance that keeps a busy professional looking put together between a Friday night dinner and a Sunday lunch at Glick's. Here is what gets booked most often and why it suits the suburb.

Bridal and Event Hair

Elsternwick's social calendar runs on events. Weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, engagements, sheva brachot, milestone birthdays, Pesach lunches, Rosh Hashanah dinners, Glen Eira Town Hall functions. Mothers of the bride and mothers of the groom make up a meaningful chunk of our event booking, and they almost always come to us because their regular salon does not do the rehearsal-plus-day-of model properly. Sheridan May Hair runs Kohort's bridal and event work, and her approach is built around consultations, trials and day-of execution that holds through photos, chuppah, ceremony, reception and late-night dancing. See the full Bridal and Event Hair page.

Lived-In Blonde and Balayage

The Elsternwick blonde we book most is a soft, hand-painted balayage with a smudged root and a beige or honey tone rather than a flat ash or platinum. The brief is almost always the same: grows out softly, reads polished from the front, photographs well under a ballroom chandelier. We finish with a Kerastase Fusio Dose treatment and a K18 Molecular Repair mask so the hair feels as good as it looks. See the Balayage and Lived-In Blonde pages for more.

Seamless Grey Blending

A lot of our Elsternwick clients are in their forties, fifties and sixties and are thinking hard about how they want to handle grey. Some are committed to covering it. Others are looking for an elegant transition out of dyeing. We do both. The transition work is a series of strategic highlights that lets silver grow in softly over six to twelve months without a harsh line, so you never have that awkward phase of two-tone hair in photos. Read more on the Grey Blending page.

Colour Correction

Box dye, banded foils, an ombre that has been growing in for two years, a brassy blonde that went wrong at a different salon. Colour correction is slow, technical work that our co-working model was built for. A correction appointment at Kohort runs three to six hours, uncut, with Olaplex and K18 protecting the integrity through every process. We will always tell you upfront if something needs to be staged across two or three visits rather than forced into one. See the Colour Correction page.

Haircuts

Long layers with soft face-framing, a classic lob that holds its shape through four to five weeks of wear, a textured modern shag on the younger Elsternwick client, a sharp bob for a woman who has decided to simplify her routine. We take the time to dissect a reference image before cutting, and every cut finishes with a proper blow-dry so you know how it sits. See Haircuts and Pixie and Short Hair for more.

Keratin Smoothing and Nanoplasty

Elsternwick summers and the walk between a synagogue on Inkerman Road and a lunch at Glick's or Cafe Ella can be rough on a blow-dry. Our Keratin Smoothing and Nanoplasty treatments give three to four months of smoother, frizz-controlled hair. Nanoplasty is the gentler, formaldehyde-free option, and is especially popular with clients who have coloured hair or finer strands that cannot take aggressive smoothing.

Hair Treatments

Every colour service at Kohort includes a bond-building treatment as standard. Beyond that, the Kerastase Fusio Dose Ritual is our signature shine and nourishment add-on, K18 Molecular Repair is non-negotiable for lifted hair, L'Oreal Metal Detox neutralises the metal in Melbourne tap water that can sabotage a colour, and Bhave keratin care keeps smoothed hair soft rather than plastic. See the Hair Treatment menu.

Meet Your Stylists

Kohort is seven independent stylists under one Richmond roof. Each one runs their own books and has their own specialty. Here is who you are choosing between when you book from Elsternwick.

Sheree - Pixie, Short Hair and Colour Correction

Sheree is our short-hair and colour-correction specialist. She is the one you want if you are growing out a bad foil, committing to a pixie for the first time, or dealing with the aftermath of a DIY box dye. Her work is patient and detail-heavy. Book with Sheree.

Zoe

Zoe does polished, considered cut and colour work with a strong eye for how colour sits on a finished shape. A great fit for Elsternwick clients who want to consult, sit and finish with the same stylist start to finish. Book with Zoe.

Billie

Billie brings an editorial sensibility to colour and cut, with soft balayage, modern long layers and lived-in blonde that reads polished but effortless. Great for the Elsternwick client who wants low-maintenance but high-finish. Book with Billie.

Grace

Grace is an all-rounder with strong colour training and a calm consultation style. She is a good first booking if you are new to Kohort and want someone who will listen carefully before picking up foils. Book with Grace.

Taylah

Taylah runs Studio by Taylah inside Kohort and books through her own Timely page. She is comfortable with creative and referenced work, and a natural fit for younger Elsternwick clients coming in with Instagram saved folders. Book with Taylah.

Sheridan

Sheridan May Hair is Kohort's bridal and event specialist alongside her regular cut and colour work. If you have a wedding, bar or bat mitzvah, engagement or milestone event, she is your first call. She also books through Timely. Book with Sheridan.

Elodie

Elodie is our glass-hair and high-shine blonde specialist. If you have seen the mirror-finish, seamlessly blended blonde on Instagram and wondered where it is done, it is done from her chair. Elodie books through Instagram DM. Book with Elodie.

Why Elsternwick Clients Choose Kohort

Elsternwick has its own salons, and plenty of them. So why drive to Richmond?

The first reason is the co-working model. Kohort is not a chain. Every stylist here is an independent practitioner who owns their chair, sets their own rates and runs their own diary. There is no salon manager chasing retail targets, no pressure to fit more heads into the day, and no junior taking over the blow-dry halfway through. For an Elsternwick client used to the chain-salon rhythm of being wedged between two other foils, the difference is immediate.

The second reason is the specialist mix. Seven stylists with distinct strengths means you get to pick the right person for the job. A mother of the bride who wants a rehearsal and day-of service goes to Sheridan. A woman transitioning to grey goes to Sheree or Grace. An Elsternwick professional who wants a glossy, photograph-ready blonde goes to Elodie or Billie. The brief drives the booking.

The third reason is the product range. Kerastase, Davines, Olaplex, K18, L'Oreal Metal Detox and Bhave all sit on our retail wall, which means the product your stylist used in the chair is the product you can take home, at professional pricing. We do not push volume, and we will never send you out with a bag full of product you do not need.

The fourth reason is the space itself. Kohort is a calm studio, not a high-volume salon. Natural light, no blaring music, no smell of ammonia blowing from the next chair. If you have been doing your hair for twenty or thirty years and are tired of the chain-salon feeling, walking into Kohort is a reset.

The fifth reason is that we understand event hair in the detail it deserves. Weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, simchas, milestones. Our Elsternwick clients do not come to Kohort because we are closer. They come because we take the brief seriously, do the rehearsal properly, and stand behind the finish on the day.

Landmarks & Life in Elsternwick

Elsternwick runs on Glen Huntly Road. The strip is the main commercial artery of the suburb, stretching from Brighton Road down to Kooyong Road, and on any weekday morning it is busy with school drop-off traffic from Caulfield Grammar, Leibler Yavneh College and Shelford Girls' Grammar in nearby Caulfield. The Classic Cinemas, originally built in 1888 as a public hall and converted into a cinema in 1911, still runs arthouse and first-release screenings and is a genuine community fixture. Elsternwick Hotel, on the corner of Glen Huntly and Brighton Roads, has been trading since 1856 and remains one of the most-used meeting pubs in the area.

Rippon Lea Estate, at 192 Hotham Street, is the National Trust heritage mansion and gardens that sits on the southern edge of the suburb, with its lakes, orchards and open grounds used for weddings, film shoots and Sunday strolls. The Jewish Holocaust Museum on Selwyn Street is a significant institution with a national reputation. Hopetoun Gardens, the small central park with its 1866 cannons, is the local picnic spot. Elsternwick Park, running south towards Brighton, has the cricket ground, oval and paths that host the local sports crowd most weekends.

The Glen Huntly Road food scene spans kosher bakeries, Israeli cafes, cake shops, delis and brunch places. Glick's is an institution. The dumpling places and pho shops near Elsternwick Plaza pull the younger crowd, and the cocktail-and-small-plates newcomers along the strip have brought a fresh energy in the last few years without displacing the longstanding family-run spots.

The suburb's Jewish community is the defining cultural thread. Synagogues, day schools, kosher supermarkets and a dense social calendar shape the rhythm of the year. Caulfield Grammar, founded in 1881, originally sat next to the railway station and has shaped generations of Elsternwick families. Public primary schooling centres on Elsternwick Primary, and the area feeds into Caulfield and Glen Eira secondary catchments.

Transport-wise, Elsternwick sits on the Sandringham line, and the 67 tram runs along Glen Huntly Road to the CBD via St Kilda Road. Brighton Road and Kooyong Road take you east to Caulfield and Caulfield North, and Glen Eira Road connects you north to Armadale and Malvern along the way to Richmond.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really worth driving from Elsternwick to Richmond for a hair appointment?

Honest answer: it depends on what you are after. For a wash-and-blow-dry, probably not. For a full balayage, a mother-of-the-bride rehearsal, a colour correction, a grey transition, or any appointment where the stylist's attention matters more than the drive, Elsternwick clients consistently say yes. The co-working model means your stylist is only ever working on you during your appointment, which is not something most Glen Huntly Road salons can offer.

How long is the drive from Elsternwick to 234 Bridge Road?

Twenty to twenty-five minutes off-peak via Hotham Street and Orrong Road. Up to twenty-eight minutes on a Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Nine kilometres direct.

Can I get there by public transport?

Yes. Sandringham line from Elsternwick Station to Flinders Street, then any eastern-suburbs train to East Richmond. The walk from East Richmond Station to the salon is six minutes. Door to door, around thirty-five minutes.

Where do I park?

Metered on-street on Bridge Road, Lord Street and Docker Street. For colour appointments of three hours or more, we recommend the Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre car park, which is 500 metres east of the salon.

Do you do mother-of-the-bride and event hair?

Yes, and this is one of the main reasons Elsternwick clients book with us. Sheridan May Hair is our bridal and event specialist and runs a full consultation-plus-rehearsal-plus-day-of model. Bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, engagement and simcha mother bookings are common.

Do you cover greys and do grey transitions?

Both. We do traditional root touch-ups for clients committed to covering grey, and strategic highlight patterning for clients who want to transition out of dyeing over six to twelve months without a harsh line.

How much does a balayage cost?

Balayage pricing starts around $280 and varies by stylist, length, density and how many lighten-and-tone processes are needed. Every balayage includes a gloss, a bond-building treatment and a blow-dry finish. Your consultation will give you an exact quote.

How far ahead do I need to book?

For a first visit with a specific stylist on a specific day, four to six weeks ahead is ideal. For Sheridan's bridal and event bookings, six to twelve weeks for a wedding rehearsal. For a Tuesday or Wednesday appointment, two weeks is usually enough.

Do you sell Kerastase, Olaplex and K18?

Yes. All three sit on our retail wall at professional pricing, alongside Davines, L'Oreal Metal Detox and Bhave. Your stylist will recommend one or two products that match what was done in the chair.

Do you do keratin smoothing for Elsternwick summer humidity?

Yes. Keratin Smoothing gives three to four months of smoother, frizz-controlled hair. Nanoplasty is the formaldehyde-free option and is especially popular with our coloured-hair clients.

Can I bring my mum or daughter to a consultation?

Of course. The consultation bench seats two comfortably, and it is very common for mothers and daughters to come together, especially for bridal, bat mitzvah and first-colour appointments.

What if my first stylist is not the right fit?

Tell us. We will happily move you to a different stylist in the studio whose specialty matches your brief better. Seven specialists under one roof is the whole point.

Book Your Appointment from Elsternwick

Kohort is at 234 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC 3121. Call the salon on 0423 979 900 or email salon@kohort.com.au. We run Tuesday to Saturday, with late-night options depending on your stylist.

To book, pick the stylist whose work fits your brief: Sheree for short hair and colour correction, Zoe for polished cut and colour, Billie for editorial blonde, Grace for considered all-round work, Taylah for creative and referenced cuts, Sheridan for bridal and event, and Elodie for glass-hair blonde.

If you are not sure who to book with, DM us on Instagram or email the salon and we will match you to a stylist based on your brief. First-visit consultations run fifteen to twenty minutes and are the foundation of every relationship we build with a new client.

Elsternwick is twenty to twenty-five minutes away. The drive is real, but so is the difference in what happens once you are in the chair. If you are coming from Glen Huntly Road, from the Hopetoun Gardens pocket, from the Ripponlea end near Rippon Lea Estate, or from the Elsternwick Park side towards Brighton, we are built for the hair you want. Book your first appointment and see how the co-working model changes the experience.