Jacques Dessange (5 December 1925 – 7 January 2020) was a French hairdresser.

Early life

Jacques Dessange was born in 1925 in

Souesmes Souesmes () is a Communes of France, commune in the Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department References

Communes of Loir-et-Cher {{LoirCher-geo ...

, France as the son of René Dessange, a hairdresser, and his wife Aline, who opened a café next to the hairdresser. Jacques first worked in the hairdressing salon of his father, and in 1947 went to work in

Trouville-sur-Mer Trouville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Trouville on Sea''), commonly referred to as Trouville, is a city of 4,603 inhabitants in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Trouville-sur-Mer borders Deauville across the ...

in the salon of Louis Gervais.

Career

He soon started working for fashion shows and other events, like the 1948 Carven show. In 1954 he opened his first hairdressing salon, in Paris, and in 1956 married Corinne de Boissière, agent to

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

, who became his client. He worked with many French stars like

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; 17 January 1944 – 11 June 2024) was a French singer-songwriter, actress, and author. She was known for singing melancholic, sentimental ballads. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure in F ...

Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Mo ...

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and

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian on 15 August 1944) is a Bulgarians in France, Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. Her performances often featured ela ...

and invented some popular hairstyles like the '' coiffé-décoiffé'', a loose, "tousled" hairstyle. In 1961, he became the official hairdresser of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, which introduced him to international stars like

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938), known as Claudia Cardinale (), is an Italian actress. Born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

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and

Liz Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

. He continued to work for Paris fashion shows as well, e.g. in 1964 for

Guy Laroche Guy Laroche () (16 July 1921 – 17 February 1989) was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company. Biography Laroche was born in La Rochelle to a Tunisian Jewish family, and began his career in millinery. From 1949, L ...

. He created some of the most celebrated coiffures of Brigitte Bardot, including the

Beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

so-called "choucroute" (French for

Sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , ) is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferment the sugar ...

) chignon, and turned her into a blonde for '' And God Created Woman''. In 1958 he opened his first salon outside of France in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, Tunisia. The company he created, Dessange International, was at the time of his death present in 43 countries with more than 1,700 salons operating under different brands, including "Jacques Dessange" and "Camille Albane". It also sold hairstyle products. Dessange also opened institutes to train new hairdressers: by 2003 108 of these existed.

Later life

He stopped working as a hairdresser in 1977, retired in 2004 and sold his company in 2008. Dessange died in 2020, leaving two sons, Cyril (born in 1961) and Benjamin (1967).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dessange, Jacques 1925 births 2020 deaths French hairdressers People from Loir-et-Cher