Inside David Mallett’s Paris salon — and what happens when beauty becomes a collaboration.
*DAVID MALLETT
*DAVID MALLETT
David Mallett’s salon on rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires isn’t just another address on the Paris hair scene. It’s a space that feels different the moment you walk in, an apartment, a studio, a place where the atmosphere seems as carefully considered as the cuts. Known for his understated approach and a focus on natural, wearable beauty, David Mallett has built a reputation for hair that grows out well, holds its shape, and feels like you, not a trend. I was invited to experience the flagship salon for myself. Here’s what I found: the space, the team, the process, and how it all adds up to something more than a haircut.
I was invited recently to discover the David Mallett salon. I said yes, out of curiosity, and because, frankly, I needed it. My hair wasn’t in crisis, but it was in that place where things start to dull. My roots were showing, the shape had gone flat, and I’d been half-considering a fringe without real conviction. I wasn’t coming in for a transformation. I just wanted to shift something, quietly. Something that would make me feel more in tune.
I had, of course, heard of David Mallett.
His name circulates almost mythologically when you start asking the right people about the best salons in Paris. It’s one of those names, whispered, respected, magnetic. Still, I didn’t know what to expect. And what I experienced wasn’t just an appointment. It was a kind of living installation. Conceptual, yes. But also deeply sensory, human, alive.
The first thing that strikes you is the space. A spacious Parisian apartment that seems to stretch and unfold endlessly. Each room is slightly hidden, connected through corridors that feel like veins. The parquet creaks underfoot, the ceilings are high and molded, Haussmannian, unmistakably. But the decor resists theatricality. It’s not trying to impress. It’s trying to express. Every object, every artwork, feels chosen on purpose. Nothing gimmicky, nothing decorative for the sake of it. Minimalist, yes, but not cold. More like… intentional emptiness. The kind that leaves room for thought. For form. For you.
The place hums with motion. Not chaos, movement. You don’t come here to relax; you come to create. That was my impression the moment I stepped inside. Everyone was moving quickly, precisely, with purpose. Not performative. Just efficient, focused, electric.
As someone who works in the creative industries (advertising, to be specific), I felt instantly at ease in that atmosphere. It was the kind of space that sparks you. Everyone involved is operating at a high level, not just technically, but emotionally, aesthetically. There’s vision. There’s conviction. It’s not a beauty temple. It’s a studio.
I had come in wanting to give my hair a bit of a refresh. My roots were grown out. My lengths had gone flat. I was flirting with the idea of a fringe, something face-framing, something new. But the consultation that followed didn’t feel formulaic. It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t about ticking boxes. The colorist came over. Then the hairstylist. Then we all talked, calmly, clearly, like collaborators on the same brief.
Each of them brought their perspective, but nothing was imposed. They understood my hesitations, my desire to stay natural, my lack of interest in anything high-maintenance. For color, they suggested soft points of light around the face, barely-there highlights to brighten my complexion. For the cut, the hairstylist gently pushed back on the fringe idea and offered something more organic: a long curtain bang that would shape my face without locking me into anything too sharp.
And honestly? I’m grateful. I think a full fringe would’ve been a mistake. This was better. More aligned. It wasn’t just about saying yes to a request. It was about listening deeply and offering something truer.
That clarity, that level of instinct and refinement, doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s the result of years of focus.
David Mallett’s philosophy is built around “natural sublime”: cuts that grow well, color that complements rather than overwhelms. His stylists are trained for years before they work with clients. They learn to read not just hair type, but posture, tone, personality. David Mallett’s not interested in trends. He’s interested in structure. In listening. In the intelligence of restraint.
The salon itself reflects that. No branding noise. No “beauty experience” marketing. Just quiet, thoughtful expertise — and an environment designed to hold it.
While I was sitting with my color processing, I watched the room. Everyone I saw, stylist or client, had a kind of presence. No one was generic. No one was loud. It felt like being backstage at Fashion Week, but without the frenzy. Just craft. Focus. People in their element.
It made me think: we talk a lot about hair in cosmetic terms, but rarely in emotional ones. Hair isn’t just surface. It’s signal. It marks time. We touch it when we’re nervous. We cut it when we need change. We color it when we want to shift perception, our own or others’. It holds rhythm, memory, projection.
That’s why when a salon understands how to treat it, not as material, but as medium, it feels different. It doesn’t feel like service. It feels like translation.
I didn’t leave the salon looking radically different. That’s not the point. But the way my hair moved felt better. The way it fell around my face made more sense. It was a subtle recalibration, and it stayed with me.
And while David Mallett has other addresses, at the Ritz, in New York at The Webster, this one, the flagship on rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, feels like the origin. It’s where the atmosphere lives.
If you’re walking around with an idea, not fully formed, but felt, this is a good place to bring it. They’ll help you find the version of it that actually fits. Not the trend-driven one. The one that makes sense on you.
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david-mallett.com / @davidmallett
Notre Dame des Victoires Le Salon 14 rue Notre Dame des Victoires 75002 Paris
Hôtel Ritz Paris 15 Place Vendôme 75001 Paris
New York, The Webster 29 Greene street NY 10013
