David Mallett: Cream of the Crop

In New York there are plenty of them: Editorial-hairstylists-turned-salon-gurus like Orlando Pita, Oribé, Frederick Fekkai, John Sahag, Sally Hirschberger, just to name a few. In Paris, you don’t really have that. You have Odile Gilbert, the woman behind all the crazy haute couture hair as well as the subtly coiffed campaign beauties, but she doesn’t cut civilian hair. You also have the famed Christophe Robin, the man who is responsible for all the multi-hued hairdos Linda Evangelista sported throughout the years. Robin has a salon, but he doesn’t cut, he just colors. There is, however, one man who bridges the gap. His name is David Mallett.

Not only does he bridge the gap, but he challenges the distinction of his Stateside peers just as boldly as the little Pont Neuf stands up to the Brooklyn Bridge. He still does some editorial, but now his main job is catering to the cream of the Euro crop: editors, models, photographers (Ellen von Unwerth was getting her hair done while I was there), and actors (like Drew Barrymore, Elizabeth Hurley, Nicole Kidman and Emmanuelle Seigner). Basically, these are the people with the best haircuts and not the wealthy Upper East Sider-anchor TV hair clientele who often frequent the Manhattan masters.

Mallett charges $150 for a cut (a mere penny in the bucket when compared with Orlando Pita’s $800 charge), which doesn’t exclude the hip young ones who aren’t making loads of money…just yet. Mallett also doesn’t operate out of one of these huge salons where he employs two assistants to creepily watch on as he chops layers into your bob, nor does he sic two people with blow dryers on you the minute he lays down his scissors. Mallett works on his own and does everything himself - besides color. For this, he has two very capable in-house colorists manning their own posts (Giorgio is the one who bleaches Ms. von Unwerth’s coils).

To go along with the personal attention Mallett showers upon his clients - famous or not - is how non-commercial his “salon” feels. It looks and feels like a Parisian apartment that has an owner with very sophisticated taste: '50s modern with enough antique elements to soften the space just enough so that it appeals to everyone, male and female. I actually asked if Mallett lived there thinking that perhaps he just built in a few salon amenities like a couple of special head-rinsing sinks and stylist stations and that he had a bedroom hiding behind one of the many closed doors. But no, he just works there.

Mallett is originally from Australia and speaks English accordingly, even though he’s been in living in Paris for the past 12 years. When Mallett evaluated my hair, he said he wanted to cut into my “curtains,” which meant the long bangs-like layer that drooped on either side of my face. I was all for it, even more so when a few minutes later he referred to my unfortunate situation as “cocker spaniel hair.” He’s honest and he’ll definitely make you laugh.

While he chatted away about Paris - where I should go, have I seen this exhibition - and asked about New York - how do the salons work? Who usually cuts your hair? - he never let his attention stray from his job. Mallett cuts with precision, not like one of these crazy cutters who flips your hair around and snips at random while hundreds of strands flail through the air. And while he is precise, the final product doesn’t look stiff as though someone just lopped it off. It looks how it is supposed to look. None of that “it’ll look great once it grows out a tad and you’ve have time to get used to it.”

Mallett doesn’t have time for that. He wants his clients to be happy and come back to see him again and again. But not too often. Unless you have a specific, high maintenance cut, like super short bangs that need constant attention, you won’t need to see Mallett more than every three months, which is great if you visit Paris that often.

Mallett also has color issues. As much as he detests cocker spaniel hair, he hates “ratty hair” – dull, ashy toned hair – just as much. He might not physically color hair himself, but he gets very involved - perhaps this is a trait from his editorial days.

First he asks what you want, “Do you want to go darker? Lighter? I’m not going to do something that’s going to freak you out.” I asked what he thought would be good.

“Well, if you just want to be pretty/sexy for the summer, go lighter," Mallett recommends. "I’ll put in a few highlights around the front there.”

I said I was thinking about going darker.

“Good, because I was thinking that too. Darker is more intellectual. I see you like that. But not reddish – not that secretary look,” he stops, “not that I have problems with secretaries. I just hate that reddy-brown color. I would just take the rattiness out of your hair now…We are going to use transparent color, so it won’t have that dyed look. It will just take some of the lightness out the highlights you have…Not that I spit on highlights - biscuit or caramel would be beautiful on you. But you should go darker. Think we should try darker? I don’t want to push you into that if you don’t want to though…”

He calls in Giorgio discuss. They speak in French. Mallett gesticulates. I hear “foncée, mais pas si foncée” several times. Giorgio doesn’t seem one hundred percent sure. They discuss it so intently, it seems like they are almost arguing, but then I remember we are in France. They are just conversing. I am flattered they seem to care so much about so slightly changing the color of my hair. They finally agree on what sounds like “7.” I go with it.

I guess 7 was the lucky number, because it was a perfect brown: not too dark, translucent enough that you could still see the highlights, they just weren’t as obvious as before. It definitely didn’t look dyed. Mallett seemed very pleased. Very pleased indeed. He even told Giorgio how good he thought it was. He said the color would fade out by the end of summer and that I could do it again or try some highlights then, depending on how I felt. My haircut would only need maintenance every three months, unless I wanted to try something else. It is nice to feel in charge at the salon, not like you are putting your appearance as you know it in the hands of a stranger. I also appreciated that Mallett didn’t recommend eight different products to care for my new hair.

“One of the nice things about not being under contract with one of these big companies [Aveda, L’Oreal, etc.] is that I can use whatever I like,” said Mallett. Mallett’s collection of products include Fresh, Leonor Greyl, L’Oreal, Yves Virginie and Swartzkoff for color. But you can use whatever you like.

Yet another difference between David Mallett and his big wig contenders overseas.

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