David Mallett

David Mallett is a French hair-care brand and salon built around the work of its namesake, an Australian-born hairdresser based in Paris. The house grew out of the David Mallett salon, which opened in 2003 in a 17th-century Hôtel Particulier near Place des Victoires in central Paris [4]. From that salon Mallett later developed a line of professional hair-care products shaped, the company says, by the needs of his salon clientele.

The brand remains active and founder-led. It runs a transactional website with current pricing, keeps salons in Paris and New York, and maintains active social channels.

David Mallett is the eponymous venture of the hairdresser of the same name, described by the brand as Australian by birth and shaped by time in Italy and, later, Paris. According to the company, his style draws on the relaxed feel of Australia, the refinement of Italian culture he encountered at seventeen, and the Parisian elegance he adopted while working in his own salon and at the salon of the Ritz [2].

The salon itself opened in 2003 in a grand 17th-century Hôtel Particulier on Place des Victoires, a building Mallett furnished largely with second-hand pieces he collected himself [4]. The product line that carries the brand into retail came later: the company's philosophy page dates the launch of the hair-care range to 2008 [2], while the salon — the origin of the house — is recorded as 2003 [4]. The two dates describe different events rather than a disputed founding.

The range sits in the prestige tier and is positioned as professional hair care made in France [1]. The company frames it as the meeting of "absolute glamour" and natural results, and says the products are vegan, cruelty-free, sulfate-free and made from natural ingredients [2]. The brand also lists its formulas as paraben-free, mineral oil-free and phthalate-free, free of animal-derived materials and colourants, and not tested on animals.

Several products anchor the line. The Hair Serum, built around kahai oil, is the one the brand singles out most; in an early interview Mallett said it took three years to develop because he could not find a serum on the market that did not leave hair flat or greasy [8]. The Australian Salt Spray, a texturising styling spray formulated with mineral-rich Murray River salt, is meant to recreate the effect of sun and seawater for an undone, beach-wave look. Other recurring products include the Elixir Hair and Scalp Rescue, an oil treatment the brand describes as regenerating, and the Shampoo No.1 L'Hydratation and No.2 Le Volume lines. Hero formulas draw on ingredients such as macadamia oil, broccoli seed oil and proprietary conditioning complexes the company calls Keravis and Xylishine C.

Mallett's stated aim is a constant pursuit of excellence in hairstyling, with an emphasis on making the wearer look effortlessly Parisian. In editorial interviews he has framed his approach as restraint rather than spectacle, saying his work is about respecting a client's own idea of beauty and producing hair that looks healthy and moves naturally [8]. The product line follows the same logic: conceived, the brand says, around the practical requirements of a working salon, with luxury, professional quality, simplicity and efficiency as its guiding values.

The salon has drawn press attention from the Paris fashion world. Vogue Paris named it "The best Salon in Paris" [4], and the brand cites coverage in titles including Vogue, GQ and Harper's Bazaar. The product range has also been reviewed in beauty editorial: in 2015 two editors at Into The Gloss tried the No.1 L'Hydratation and No.2 Le Volume lines and wrote about them favourably, noting the clean, minimal scent and packaging [9].

The brand is active. Its website operates as a live store with current euro pricing, it lists four salons across Paris — including Notre Dame des Victoires and the Ritz — and New York, and it keeps current social handles [1]. Distribution runs through its own direct-to-consumer channel alongside third-party luxury retailers.