Don Quiff

Don Quiff is an Austrian men's hair-styling and scalp-care brand based in Salzburg. It belongs to The New Men Company GmbH, the operating company of its three founders: hairdresser Robert Tarquini, managing director Max Kögl and creative director Klaus Laimer. The brand is built around one idea, which the company sums up as styling products "that can do more than style": because a wax sits in the hair all day, it should also deliver care ingredients to the hair and scalp. Its main product is the Energy Wax, a matte styling wax containing caffeine, biotin and ectoin.

The founding date depends on the source. Trade press dates the brand to 2024 [9], while The New Men Company GmbH was entered in the Austrian commercial register on 26 October 2023 [12]. In autumn 2026 the founders presented Don Quiff on the German television investment show "Die Höhle der Löwen", where the evidence behind the brand's care claims became a central point of discussion. The brand is active.

The brand's starting point was Robert Tarquini's salon in Salzburg. Tarquini has worked as a hairdresser for more than 30 years, runs his own salon and spent several years travelling internationally as a trainer for other hairdressers. According to the company, he kept hearing the same complaints from male clients: their style did not last until lunchtime, their hair was getting thinner, their scalp was dry and their hairline was receding. Most products on the shelf, the founders argue, could do exactly one thing, which was to style. Anyone who wanted more needed several products and extra time in the morning.

Tarquini therefore began developing his own formulas in the salon, testing them on clients until they worked. The company says every formula is still developed at his chair and tried on real customers in Salzburg before it goes on sale.

The other two founders cover design and business. Klaus Laimer is responsible for the brand's visual identity: packaging, labels and imagery in a black, cream and gold design language. Max Kögl previously ran his own recording studio and audio agency before spending many years in international sales; at Don Quiff he leads strategy, sales and marketing. The brand's own texts call him Max Kögl, while the company's legal notice and the commercial register give his name as Markus Kögl [8]. The founders describe themselves as three fathers of daughters who began by asking what kind of men they would want at their daughters' side.

The New Men Company GmbH, registered in Salzburg with the stated business of selling and marketing hair-styling and hair-cosmetic products, was entered in the commercial register on 26 October 2023 [12]. The company's own website gives no founding year for the brand itself. A portrait by the Austrian start-up outlet Trending Topics, whose byline notes that it was co-produced by AI, states that the brand was founded in 2024 [9]. This article follows the 2024 date for the brand and treats 2023 as the date the operating company was registered.

According to the founders, Don Quiff has reached more than 20,000 customers, mainly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They have told the press that total revenue over the past two years came to about 200,000 euros, of which about 40,000 euros was generated in three months through TikTok Shop [10]. Reporting by netzwelt adds that this revenue came from earlier predecessor products, and that the Energy Wax was not yet established on the market at the time of the television pitch [11].

The brand's appearance on "Die Höhle der Löwen" was broadcast in the fifth episode of the show's 20th season on VOX on 5 October 2026, after being released on the streaming service RTL+ on 28 September. The founders asked for 120,000 euros for a 20 percent stake, valuing the company at 600,000 euros [10]. According to netzwelt, investor Carsten Maschmeyer dropped out over the company's figures and the evidence for its claims, offers came from Johannes Kliesch, Dümmel and a joint bid from Judith Williams and Frank Thelen, and the founders accepted the joint offer of 120,000 euros for 30 percent [11].

Don Quiff is owned by The New Men Company GmbH, headquartered on Ernest-Thun-Straße in Salzburg. It is the founders' own company rather than part of a larger corporate group. As of May 2026, the Austrian commercial register lists the three founders with 23.33 percent each, Start Now Consulting GmbH with 20 percent and Frank Thelen Capital GmbH with 10 percent [12]. The same entry lists all three founders as managing directors since 23 May 2026.

Beyond the products, the brand presents a deliberate stance on masculinity. Its slogan, "Der Retter der Männlichkeit" ("the saviour of masculinity"), is described by the company as meant with a wink but seriously intended. Don Quiff argues that masculinity has acquired a bad reputation, and that between the macho cliché and the overly soft man there is little room for a man who is strong and still respectful; that, the founders say, is the man they want to "save".

The name is tied to this message. The company assigns one principle to each letter of "Don Quiff": ditch discrimination, own your life, no means no, question yourself, uplift people, inspire others, a rejection of violence, and "fun is not a crime". The stated ideal is men who look after themselves without taking themselves too seriously.

Commercially, the brand sells mainly direct to consumers through its own online shop, Amazon and TikTok Shop, and is also stocked by around 20 partner hair salons. Its focus is the German-speaking market, although the online shop delivers to other European countries. Trending Topics places the brand in the premium price segment.

The company groups its range under a concept it calls Activating Styling Technology. The reasoning is about time on the scalp: a caffeine shampoo is rinsed out within minutes, while a styling product stays in the hair all day. Don Quiff says body heat releases the caffeine complex in its wax onto the scalp continuously, for as long as the style holds.

The Energy Wax is the core product: a matte, strong-hold wax in an 80 ml tin, based on beeswax and kaolin clay so that the style can be reshaped during the day. It contains caffeine, biotin, ectoin and UV-A and UV-B filters. The Energy Oil is a 50 ml hair and scalp oil made from seven plant oils (rosemary, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, argan, jojoba and castor) plus vitamin E. The Energy Powder is a fine, lightly tinted styling powder intended to give volume to fine hair and thinning areas. The range also includes a carbon styling comb and the Matte Shine Performance Pomade. The company says its products are free of silicones and parabens, and that the wax and oil are made in Germany while the powder is made in Switzerland.

For the Energy Oil, the brand states that rosemary and castor oil support hair growth, with a footnote to a 2025 study by Patel et al. in the journal Cureus [3]. The company itself discloses that this study compared a rosemary and castor oil blend with coconut oil in 90 participants over 90 days, and that it was not carried out with the Energy Oil [4]. It similarly notes that the caffeine studies it cites were not conducted with Don Quiff products.

The scientific basis of the brand's care claims was questioned in coverage of its television pitch. Gruenderfreunde noted that the company publishes no studies showing that the actives in its styling wax measurably affect hair growth [10]. According to netzwelt, the founders could not present evidence for the Energy Wax's effect on hair roots, and Frank Thelen asked how the ingredients were supposed to work on the scalp from a styling product [11]. The same report cites a 2025 review finding that caffeine may have relevant biological effects on hair, but that many clinical studies on it have weaknesses in design and method.

Don Quiff is an active brand. In September 2026 it published new posts on its own blog, and on 5 October 2026 its television appearance was broadcast on VOX.