La Barbière de Paris An avant-gardist at the top

How do you fix the beard extensions?

There are several methods. Weaving it: this is no my job, I don't know how to do it. Sticking it: it's dangerous for the natural hair. You just need a bit of hair to backcomb which enables you also to number the strands according to the zone in which you are going to fix the extensions so 1,2,3,4,5. When the client arrives at home, he removes the clips and knows where the number 1 goes..
.In short, this system enable them to reproduce the puzzle because the length of the extension depends of the part of the beard. The hair extensions are tailor-made adapted to each type of morphology. Some clients have a very pronounced jaw line and others don’t even have it so we would not fix the extension the same way.
 

What does the MCB represent for you?

The visitors come from everywhere, from abroad, from the province. One always has to do better! That’s why I am always thinking. I always need to innovate for the Barbière de Paris. Every year, once I finish my show I wander, “what am I gonna present next year?”.  Outside, I see elements: A tree, a leaf and I think “this shape is pretty…”, I am always thinking about novelty and creation.

It is extraordinary, there is always something happening with this profession!

Exactly, it is more than hairdressing. We have been denying the male beauty for years put aside in the salons. I just want to bring life back to male beauty, to show that men have the right to express themselves too, to be beautiful, to take care of themselves like women. For women, the hair is their jewel and for men the beard is. They can play with it: It can be bleached, dread, curly… It is something that highlights the face so much, that transforms it.
 

You are more than avant-garde in terms of beard, how did you arrive to that level?

Well, all these techniques that we developed, shaving, hair color, blow-dry, beard makeup, beard extension, are novelties. I’ve been working on them for 8 years. I remember the steam shaving which was extremely criticized at the time by my fellow barbers who practice it today. I don’t stop there, I keep going. The beard extensions: “This is crazy, it can’t be worn...!”. 
When you go to a haute couture fashion show, do you really think that the models walk like that in the street? No because it is art and it is also the evolution of customs.

What is the credo of La Barbière de Paris?

Making this profession an art. I try to take it like that, to stop saying that one put up with being a hairdresser or a barber. Personally, I chose it. I chose to have my CAP, my BP because I’ve always wanted to be a barber since I’m young. I am passionate about it. Today, I breathe beard and I sleep about beard. Every day is different, there are always new things.
 

What do you think about Anglo-Saxon techniques?

I went to London and New York in order to observe other techniques. I was so enthusiastic the first times. 5 or 6 years ago, I kept hearing about the barber shop and I expected some kind of extraordinary culture. But I was disappointed. Apart from the shops and the clothes, in substance and in terms of techniques, we don’t have anything to be jealous of. We stayed in the barber shops and watch how they worked technically speaking. It was very basic. When one see how they wear their beard and their hair, one realize that the excellency is in France. The great fashion designers are very popular. I am often asked: “How do you do that? Where did you learn it?” I respond that “I don’t learn, I develop” this is the difference. In some way, I disregard what is around me, I keep going and I have feedbacks, “It's great” “It's not good”… I also love criticism.
 

You have just launched your own brand of products. Why launching it today in a very competitive market?

I’ve been working on it for one year and a half. It has just been released because I needed to find the right persons. It was important for me to take my time to do it. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and here we are, we did it. Today, we created five products and two novelties to enhance the range.

According to your experience, what are the qualities to be a good barber, what do you expect from your colleagues?

Being passionate, being trained even if I work differently: I never take any trained barber, I prefer training them. It takes time, and costs a bit because our trainings last between 3 and 6 months. It is expensive because we provide the necessary means so we are sure that our colleagues will work the same way as we do and we can see that because we recognize our style.
Once upon a time, two provincial boys met at night: “I know that you go to the Barbière de Paris”, the second one responds: “How do you know that?” , “I recognize its work”. We have a certain way to shape it. It’s like the Atelier du Sourcil, you can recognize more or less the style, this is the same.
 

You morning habit?

Facebook, this is the first thing I look at when I get up.
 

What is your favorite place in Paris?

I love Montmartre because there are many artists there and many creations.

Montmartre is the best at 6am for me. There is nobody. You are like the master of Paris, not to say the world…I don’t live very far from it. Running up the stairs, stay still and watch the sunrise.
 

You travel a lot, what is your favorite destination? 

San Francisco. I loved it, it was magical with many bearded young men!