The Studio — Polish Studio. Brooklyn, NY.

A letter from the founder

I opened Polish Studio with one chair and a handful of gels.

That was 2019. The chair was secondhand. The gels were mostly milky whites, because I'd gotten tired of being sold glitter every time I walked into a salon. I wanted somewhere quiet. I wanted a space where your hand sat in someone else's hand for an hour and nobody rushed.

The studio is three rooms now. Ten artists. We design six new sets every season and we book them by name. That's the business. The quiet part is still the same.

— Sloane Kim, Founder

Philosophy

What we believe about hands.

Hands are not an afterthought.

You use them every hour of every day. Nobody looks at you and doesn't see them. Dress them accordingly.

A manicure is a pause.

Two hours, no phone, someone else's hand holding yours. This is the real product. The polish is almost a bonus.

Quiet is the luxury.

No TVs, no hard sell, no small talk if you don't want it. We're a studio, not a salon. The difference matters.

A short history

Seven years, eight thousand sets.

2019

One chair opens on Gramercy Lane.

Sloane takes a lease on a 420-square-foot room above a bookshop. First clients are all friends-of-friends.

2021

Nia joins. The third chair is installed.

The waitlist hits four weeks for the first time. We start saying no to new clients and it feels terrible.

2023

The first named collection — Milk & Chrome — drops.

It books out in nine days. We realize collections are the business. Six a year becomes the rhythm.

2024

We move into the full floor. Ten chairs, three rooms.

The bookshop downstairs moves out. We take the whole thing. Paint it the color of a latte. Keep the plant.

2026

Eight thousand sets and counting.

Ten artists. Named sets. A cuticle oil we actually sell out of. Still the same quiet room, mostly.

The Studio.