PARIS — Zara planted a pod-like structure next to Paris’ Pompidou Center just days before launching its Everyday Basics hair products on Monday. Through its massive window, passersby could see large, geometric shapes in colors like banana, lipstick red, pink and Klein blue, and Guido Palau, the hairstylist who masterminded the line.
“We wanted to create a space that felt a little bit like an art installation, and nodded to the products with the coloration,” said Palau, sitting in the structure late Saturday afternoon.
He had teased the collection with a drop of two gold-themed hair products in late November 2023.
“The line will grow in every category, and every hair type will be represented and broadened,” he said, underlining the first six products have something for everyone. “It’s the starting point of the collection.
“I wanted a product that delivered but was not overly sticky or crispy. So you get volume from the mousse, but you still can run your hand through [the hair],” said Palau. “You got the shine from the blow-dry spray and the sleekness, without any oily residue. I didn’t want anything to be overly hard-hitting.”
Palau gleans some learnings from fashion shows’ backstages, where he can gauge what trends are rising and conceive products to tackle them in the mainstream.
He loves the direction beauty is progressing in today. “Women and men aren’t so boxed into any narrative,” said Palau, who especially likes when he sees someone with their own sense of themselves. “It can be having 10 bobby pins in their hair that’s greasy, but they look great because it’s who they are and who they want to be. They found themselves in their comfort zone.”
In Paris, Palau was orchestrating looks for the shows of Valentino, Miu Miu, Sacai, Loewe and Schiaparelli. But Saturday night, he and Marta Ortega Pérez, the non-executive chair of Zara’s parent company Inditex, also hosted a dinner for Zara Hair in the stately Hôtel de Miramion. Palau helped many a model launch their career there.
“I started with Guido,” said Vanessa Moody, referring to an Alexander Wang show. “I’ve learned a lot from him over the past 10 years.” That includes how to use a spray color and gel back hair.
For a Vogue Italia cover, with Steven Meisel, Moody’s hair had to be cut. “So from there, I learned how to cut my hair,” she said.
Accidents can — and do — happen. Sometimes while changing the look of a prior show, an elastic is snipped quickly and simultaneously, accidentally some hair.
Models’ hair can get so gelled down “to where you can knock on it, and it’s really hard to get out,” said Moody. “But still, I love having those [looks] in shows. It’s such a fashion moment. So even if it’s a six-hour call time, because you need to do intense hair and makeup, it’s always worth it. It’s always incredible, artistic and beautiful.”
Best and worst professional hair moments are often one and the same.
“Guido cut my bangs when I was 18 or 19, which to some would have been considered a tragedy and to others was considered genius,” she said. “They were extremely short, and maybe not what anyone would generally appreciate. But it was also kind of one of those very special moments, where you were making images. Because he wasn’t afraid and we weren’t afraid, you were just really willing to go all the way there [and that] became great images.
“There was a full commitment there, with the craziness of where you would chop and color and do something that nobody thought was beautiful, but in the end was really pretty excellent,” said Guinevere van Seenus, whose earliest memories of working with Palau go back to a 1996 shoot with David Sims for Harper’s Bazaar.
Van Seenus is working on an art book project with Norbert Schoerner. “All of this is quite exciting, because when you’ve been in this long enough, you connect with people in a different way, and everything becomes quite personal,” she said. “You start exploring other areas together, and it’s really nice.”
Malgosia Bela worked with Palau on her first Jil Sander campaign. “That was my very first encounter with a hairdresser who basically moved my head a little bit and didn’t put any product,” she said. “It was incredible. It all started from that one picture.”
A dramatic instance years back came when Palau bleached her hair and that same night it had to be dyed another color for a job the next day.
But it’s all well worth it. Having been in the industry for years, Bela said: “When it comes to a photograph, it’s the hair that can make or break the picture. It defines the shape and the silhouette.”
The event Saturday night was full of love for Palau. “I have a very good relationship, like this, with Guido,” said stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, clasping her hands together.
The event drew a host of long-standing friends and collaborators. Makeup artist Diane Kendal met Palau while they were in their early 20s. “We were doing tests with photographers in London,” she said. “We grew up together in the industry.”
Pat McGrath, Fabien Baron and Mario Sorrenti were also among the guests.
