Jacques Dessange, a French hairdresser appreciated by movie stars like Jean Seberg, Brigitte Bardot and even Ava Gardner, and founder of the famous international hairdressing group, died on Tuesday, his lawyer announced. He was 94 years old.
Jacques Dessange had opened his first salons in 1954, attracting the sympathy of personalities by inventing the “hairstylist” before developing an empire present in 43 countries. This empire, which he left only in 2008, brings together nearly 1,600 salons around the world, including 370 in France, under various brands such as Dessange and Camille Albane. In 2017, the group had sales of more than 100 million euros.
“We pay tribute today (…) to a great hairstylist who knew how to shine Parisian elegance all over the world,” reacted Emmanuel Gasnot, president of the management board of Dessange International, in a press release Tuesday evening. The group still salutes “the pioneering spirit and creative genius” of a “visionary artist ambassador of French glamor”, who has given “his letters of nobility to a whole profession”.
In recent years, Hubert, his real first name, had mainly been talked about for his legal troubles with his youngest son, Benjamin, and his presence on the list of hidden accounts of the HSBC bank in Switzerland.
Introduced to cutting in the father’s living room (in Souesmes, in the center of France), he had gone up to Paris in 1945 where he had experienced a hard apprenticeship, with no less than 12 referrals until he was hired by Louis Gervais , a fashionable hairdresser.
Liz Taylor and Marlene Dietrich
Passed between her expert hands and her scissors, actresses like Brigitte Bardot, Jean Seberg and Jeanne Moreau allowed her to gain notoriety, which earned her to then style international stars like Liz Taylor, Marlene Dietrich or Ava Gardner. In 1966, he launched his brand in his name by joining forces with young and promising hairdressers before diversifying into phytosanitary products or training schools.
In 2004, he entrusted the reins of the group to his second son, Benjamin. Four years later, he was disillusioned, considering himself ousted by his own son. Bitter, he was moved in a pamphlet for his franchisees. Despite this attack in order, Dessange International had failed to convict the founder of the group for bashing in February 2012.
The name of Jacques Dessange was also cited in 2015 by Le Monde and international media among the holders of accounts not declared to the tax authorities at HSBC Switzerland. The famous hairdresser would have had up to 1.6 million euros between 2006 and 2007. He would then have regularized his situation with the French tax authorities in 2012.
For many years, Jacques Dessange has devoted himself to his passion for painting on his property in Sologne (center). This death comes less than a year after that of Jean-Louis David, the other hairdresser of the stars and inventor of the gradient, on April 3, 2019 at the age of 85 years.
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