The Björn Axén Institute has a long history. Its founder, Björn Axén, opened his first own salon in 1963, Björn Axén Coiffur de Dames AB on Sibyllagatan in Stockholm. He quickly became a well-renowned and successful hairdresser. Björn was a master of hairdos and a formidable artist. It didn’t take him long to become a royal hairdresser.

In 1979 Björn moved his salon to the department store NK and changed the name to The Axén Studio. A couple of years later a new and “super elegant” salon reopened in a true 80ies spirit: The Axén Beauty Centre.

Björn Axén’s vision was to offer the clients a total solution hair care combined with top quality beauty and fashion. He had the different departments profiled to match his vision of a complete beauty centre. His clients always received exceptional service; quality, creativity and service were Björn Axén’s watchwords.

He managed to maintain the very high level of service holding strict seminars for his employees, on the art of service. His salon was one of few where the clients were always addressed with their name instead of with “you” (which is common in Sweden). Unless the client specifically requested otherwise, of course.

When Björn Axén passed away in 1993 the business was inherited by one of his former students, Johan Hellström. Johan, 27 years at the time, adopted the challenge to carry on the legacy of his highly respected mentor. He asked his colleague and art director Peter Hägelstam to join him. Peter didn’t hesitate for a minute. They embarked on a fruitful journey that resulted in a cooperation that is still equally rewarding.

1n 1995 the salon moved from NK to premises with more light on Norrlandsgatan 7, where one of the salons still operates. He opened his second salon in 2000, this time in the penthouse of the department store Åhléns in Stockholm.

In 2004 a new concept was born. Urban by Björn Axén introduced products that target people who like their music a little louder, the salon a bit more crowdy and the atmosphere more relaxed than in the earlier salons. The first Urban by Björn Axén salon opened on Norrlandsgatan 22. It was soon followed by anoterh in the department store Åhléns City in Stockholm. The third Urban by Björn Axén salon opened in 2007 in Åhléns City in Gothenburg.

The Björn Axén Academy, our own hairdresser education, was founded in 2004. The school operates on large premises on Birger Jarlsgatan 124.

Our watchwords, quality, creativity and service still permeate all our work. Just like in 1963.

Our philosophy

Our aim is to offer our clients the best of both services and products, with the highest possible level of service. Since the customer is the base of our company, they are who we focus on, combining quality with creativity, a classical touch with trends and ambition with humbleness.

We know that your everyday life can be stressful. This is why we want to offer you a luxurious oasis, a place where we can pamper you.

One of the founding-stones of our philosophy is to be humble and acknowledge each client’s individuality. We want our clients to experience a real meeting with our hairdressers in a creative and harmonious environment.
We do our best to make sure that our clients leave the salon with a higher self-esteem, an inner sense of wellbeing and with a hairstyle that fits both personality and appearance.

Björn Axén is moving on to a new phase, full of new possibilities and ideas. The salon concepts, our education and portfolio of hair care products are continuously developing. Our ambition is to keep improving our services, products and methods to match your and the market’s needs, with what has been our trademark for the past 45 years - professional skills and quality.