“I’m taking Alice (David’s PR) to Fairwork, three blow dries an hour.”

Those were the first words I heard uttered from David Mallet’s mouth. Instantly, I was in love. “It’s slave labour in here!” he proclaimed, shooting me a wry wink. Typically, for a man or woman of such legendary stature, humour is often misplaced, lost in the whirlwind of fame and fortune (so to speak), and most significantly forgone to protect an image of sorts. Not David. The quips continued (perhaps a marker of his colloquial Australian heart), as too, a candidness, refreshing for a man who deals with the best of the best.

The ‘best’ read much like a celebrity Rolodex, not so much of the who’s who – but, of the who’s cool. The gaudy and garish need not apply here, no matter how famous they may be. For David, it’s all about the cool, the beautiful, the irreverent women who may not boast 35 million followers, but possess the je ne sais quoi that initially drew the boy from Perth to Paris.

Is the letter P the only thing the two cities have in common? “And how much I love them both, but that would be about it,” Mallet declared. And perhaps that’s just it, that despite combing, spritzing and tonging the hair of the most debonair, fortuitous folk in all the land, David’s heart will always beat with an unashamed love for his hometown – both old and new.

David Mallet inside his famed eponymous salon
Credit: Mike Baker
His Parisian salon, housed discreetly in a grandeur 17-century building situated in the Second Arrondissement reflects this – so very French, and yet is animated with an almost Australian playfulness. A pastiche of taxidermy – a stealth ostrich, a naughty cheetah, two showy albino peacocks – sit alongside famed artworks and expensive furniture in a strangely synchronous fashion. A beautiful paradox, not dissimilar to the French Australian culture clash within his own life.

Raspy in voice (probably from a lifetime of talking over blow-dryers), he has sharp blue eyes and a considered forehead. He also never wears socks. Ever. Perhaps a subtle, albeit subconscious, proclivity towards a very Australian nuance (although think without shoes, too), but articulated in the most French of ways, cut from Lanvin leather or Margiela cloth. There’s no denying it, the man has style. And grace. And poise.

David Mallet in his Parisian salon, sock-less, as always
Credit: Mike Baker
Of course, for a man of Mallet’s calibre, his working space should reflect this, so it made perfect sense to take up a short but welcome residency at one of Australia’s foremost salons, Anthony Nader’s RAW in Sydney’s Surry Hills (another hairstylist of my heart). It was there David did what David does best – hair. I was lucky enough to take up post in his chair, and for a lover of movement (Mallet vehemently dislikes amorphous, flat hair) – I received the Jerry Lively (a wavy, glamorous hybrid of Jerry Hall and Blake Lively, mais bien sur). He even ironed-out my “bum-fluff”. Very chic, indeed.

Feted by all, it is his body of work that reflects talent, but in a fickle world, his longevity which is reflective of his character. Here, with dry humour and a refreshing candidness, a tête-à-tête with Monsieur Mallet.

GRAZIA: How’s Paris? I miss it, I’d love to go back.

David: Well you’re definitely coming into the salon. Except I’m in Tuscany shooting the Eres campaign. I do all the Eres campaigns.

GRAZIA: I love Eres, I got a pair when I was in Italy.

David: Well why would you go to Italy, Eres is French! When I’m there I’ll take you.

GRAZIA: Thank you! You’re opening another salon, is that right?

DAVID:We’re opening in January in The Webster in New York, which is uber cool in France; we’re opening on the fifth floor in the building in Soho. 

GRAZIA: Is there anywhere else you’d like to open after that?

DAVID: No. It was only meant to be Paris. Then the Ritz came and saw me about opening there so I said yes, and then Laure [Heriard Dubreuil] who’s a client of mine, said to me I’m doing a business project in New York, would you be interested? I agreed, but they all came through people I know, who came to see me and it came to be that way. I was very happy with one salon, extremely.

GRAZIA: Why Paris initially?

DAVID: Why Paris? Because it’s the city of light and I grew up in Perth and I dreamt about that city. When I arrived when I was 21 I knew I wanted to stay there forever – I loved the city.

GRAZIA: Is the letter P the only thing the two cities have in common?

DAVID: And how much I love both of them, but that would be about it. There’s very little similarity, French and Australians don’t have much in common.

GRAZIA: What about with their approach to hair? How does it differ?

DAVID: Absolutely none. The French are obsessed with the I-don’t-care-thing, which is very much about their personalities, they don’t want people to think they care but yet they’re very obsessed and they do care. They’re nonchalant, but deep down, obsessed, it’s beyond. It’s highly studied, and they’re really funny, they don’t want anyone to know they’ve been to the hairdresser. They like their colour to be faded so people don’t know that they did it: “I want my colour to look old David, I don’t want it to look like I’ve just had it done.” And when we do their blow dry a lot of the time we tie their hair up because they don’t want anyone to know that they’ve been there. So, we spend a lot of time mattifying hair, that’s why we use a lot of volume powders and they use a lot of dry shampoo, because they like it to seem like they haven’t done it.

GRAZIA: And the Australian girls?

DAVID: The Australian girls, when I lived here (I’m not so sure now) used to wash their hair too much. They would always clean and over-condition it, so it never got clumpy, but I think it’s moved on. I find Australian women to look quite incredible, particularly the ones I’ve bumped into in Sydney.

GRAZIA: Who is your favourite head of head you have worked on?

DAVID:You are my favourite person.

Grazia: Aside from me…

DAVID: Bianca Brandolini. I’ve looked after her since she was in school, since she was 15. She has her cut done by us, her colour done by us and I travel with her.

GRAZIA: Is there anyone’s hair that you’d love to do you haven’t yet done?

DAVID: Cate Blanchett, I’ve never worked with her. Besides that, no. I’ve done most of the people I’ve wanted to.

GRAZIA: What about anyone who has passed, like an old star?

DAVID: I would have loved to work with Jerry Hall when she was modelling. She was one of the reasons I worked in hair because I loved the waves in her hair.

GRAZIA: Is waves one of your favourite hairstyles to do? And, if you could only do one hairstyle for the rest of you life, what would it be?

DAVID: Waves. Normally, I do very little straight hair. I like hair that moves, I hate flat, ironed, straight hair stuck to the head – that’s the girl that bombs – I absolutely hate it. I like anything that makes a girl look beautiful and makes her have a smile. I think beauty and happiness are inseparable. It’s very difficult to be beautiful and unhappy. They go together, and I feel it’s a hairdresser’s job to make a girl happy when the come. I’ve had women travel three hours on the train to come to the salon, and cry because they feel so good or so happy – it’s really nice to be treated seriously and very nice to be treated respectfully.

GRAZIA: Aside from Alice – who treats you so disrespectfully!

DAVID: Yes, but she’s got no idea! [he shoots her cheeky look] she just thought I was going to put my finger in people’s hair. Me?

GRAZIA: I’m assuming then you hate all the Kardashian-type stuff?

DAVID: It’s not my cup of tea. 

GRAZIA: Can you explain the taxidermy thing?

David: I just —I’m fascinated with all that stuff.

GRAZIA: Is there any animal that you’d love to have in your salon that you don’t?

David: I’ve kind of got enough, I wouldn’t leap to more.

Chrisanthi: Which animal has the best hair?

David: A lion.

Chrisanthi: A lion? That’s me! I’m a Leo. What is the most frustrating thing you hear women say about hair, or just a dislike in general?

David: Hair products that smell like lollies. Caramel and sugar and anything that smells like passionfruit or watermelon…I hate hair that smells sweet, like hair that smells of nothing, or I like the hair of a clean scalp or rain water – I absolutely hate artificial smells in the hair.

GRAZIA: What do you think is the biggest trend for hair?

David: Long loose waves and no straight hair.

grazia: There’s been a spate of Australian models that have all cut fringes recently. What do you think of the fringe?

David: I mean, there’s a little tendency in Paris that’s beginning with the radical boy thing. Short lengths, longer top. It’s one of those things – long top, short underneath are the easiest haircuts to grow out; short tops, long underneath – that’s a lot harder to grow out. The fringe in Paris is like – it’s long, it’s in the middle, wispy and it gets longer to the outside. They’re not crazy blunt. They move open in the middle are are soft and then longer to the sides and they’re soft in the middle. And they’re very beautiful. It’s a pretty fringe – it’s not a drag queen fringe. It’s soft and it’s a little bit worn out and not hard.

grazia: Do you think French women are the most beautiful in the world?

David: Pardon? Um, I think when French women get it right, they get it really right. They’re very afraid of making mistakes. The problem there is they don’t take a chance, so when they get their style down, they tend to repeat it over and over their entire life. They’re never bold, they never take a risk. They’re always afraid of being tacky. French women hate the idea of being tacky. They always say, for instance, I don’t want to be vulgar.

grazia: how funny. So they’d never be over the top or glamorous?

David: Very, very rarely. Sometimes they’d say ‘I would love – to try it,’ but they just can’t.

grazia: How interesting – so some of them have the inkling to do it but would never actually execute it?

David: The funny thing is, the only time they’ll do it is nails. They’ll do yellow toenails. They’ll do all sorts of colours on their feet. Now, that’s the only time you’ll see them do something vaguely connoted as being vulgar…because they know they can take it off. But doing vulgar obvious hair colour, no. And that comes from their ideology of being standoffish and not caring. They don’t like to appear too needy even though they are.

grazia: So deep down they’re high maintenance?

David: Deep down they’re the same as everybody. I say, ‘are you happy?’ They say ‘oui, ça va.’

GRAZIA:  Obviously hair care was a natural progression, but what actually spurred you in the end to create a hair care range?

David: It just happened. With people like Bianca, because she has really long hair, and she was like I need it. See, now I’m turning you into Jerry Hall. 

GRAZIA: Yes, I just saw that.

David: You have become Jerry. I don’t know what happened, but you are Jerry now. 

grazia: We just had a Jerry moment.

David: Now you’ve turned into Blake Lively. You’ve just become Blake.

grazia: Yep, I’m happy with Blake. I’ve gone from Jerry to Blake. I’m having a transformation a minute!

David: You are Jerry Lively.

grazia: Jerry Lively. That’s hilarious! What is your favourite product from the range?

David: Serum, Volume Powder and Salt Spray.

grazia: And if a French girl was to have one product from the range, what would it be?

David: Volume powder.

grazia: And an Australian girl?

David: Serum, because everyone here has really dry hair. They all colour a lot and go to the beach.

grazia: So do you think women here over colour their hair?

David: No, I don’t think there’s such a thing. I hate all that beauty stuff about rules. I like beauty, and there’s no such thing as a rule.

GRAZIA: So you don’t believe in any hair or beauty rules?

David: Um, I don’t like rules full stop. I like freedom of expression and to feel gorgeous is highly personal.

grazia: Is that something that attracted you to – well, not even France but – Europe in general?

David: It does, because in France they don’t like rules either. And they’re very outside the box and don’t like being told how to look. I mean, you know that’s why I love France, because I hate straight hair.

grazia: Hate straight hair, hate straight people.

David: I don’t hate straight people.

grazia: Sorry, hate straight thinking.

David: I don’t like ordinary thinking.

grazia: Speaking of rules, I’m notorious for having one eye.

David: Do you want to have more one eye than that?

grazia: Maybe just a bit more one eye. People ask me whether it’s real or glass…

David: I’m loving you. You really are funny and you’ll have to come and meet Bianca and I in Paris.

grazia: I’ll have to! She’s a bit of a girl crush of mine. So how come the no socks?

David: I don’t own socks. I really find socks horrible and – smelly – and I buy incredibly expensive shoes and I never wear socks.

grazia: If you were throwing a slumber party in your salon, and you could invite anyone – dead or alive – who would it be?

David: Debbie Harry, Albert Einstein, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, Cate Blanchett, Francois Nars and my son Max.

grazia: And me.

David: And you.

grazia: And Bianca.

David: And Bianca.

grazia: So, was Jerry Hall’s hair actually the reason you initially fell in love with hair?

David: Completely. Totally. I fell in love with that dream, and that thing about looking beautiful. Look how great your hair looks. You’re Jerry Hall. Now, go out and show off.

As for the Eres and Bianca offer, I’m planning my next trip to Paris just to take him up on it.

Mallet’s superstar product, the famed Volume Powder
Credit: Supplied