PARIS — Hairstyles have all the time defined the times. That’s a key takeaway from the exhibition titled “Des cheveux et des poils,” or “Hair and Hair,” being held at Les Arts Décoratifs museum in Paris.

For the show running April 5 to Sept. 17, curator Denis Bruna analyzed hair — on the pinnacle, face and body — and perceptions thereof within the occidental world, primarily between the fifteenth century and modern-day.

“If I could have given a subtitle, I might have made it: ‘Tame the animal that’s in you,’” Bruna said.

The exhibit is organized into five areas spanning 12,915 square feet over two floors. It showcases 677 pieces encompassing paintings, sculptures, photographs, wigs, products, promoting and salon equipment.

“Hair and Hair” is the fourth a part of a series of exhibits at MAD curated by Bruna over a decade. It follows “The Mechanics of Underwear” in 2013, “Appropriate Attire, Please!” in 2016 and “Walk and Gait” in 2019.

“The thought is to point out that hair, human hairs, are convertible materials,” Bruna said.

The exhibit opens with two sculptures, one from the late 14th century, in wood, depicting a person covered in hair.

“He’s closer to an animal than a human being,” Bruna said. That’s juxtaposed to a wood sculpture representing Mary Magdalen dressed like a girl from the late fifteenth century with hair perfectly coiffed.

The primary a part of the exhibit is “Fashions and Extravagances.”

Within the West, almost until the Middle Ages, women hid their hair under headdresses and veils.

“From the sixteenth century, we manage to trace the evolution of hairstyles every five years,” said Bruna, adding that they’re as necessary as a dress or jewels.

In a single painting, from the U.K., a girl wears a protracted lock of hair, a “love lock,” hanging from her earring and dangling down the left side, near to her heart.

“We are able to trace the complete history of hairdressing within the seventeenth century, because of literature,” said Bruna, giving for example Madame de Sévigné’s letters.

The “fontanges” hairstyle, all the trend at the top of the seventeenth century France, was kicked off by Louis XIV’s mistress during a hunt.

“The chronicles of the time said the following day all the women wore a small knot of their hair [like her],” said Bruna, explaining that court fashion lasted 30 years.

Hairstyles rose and fell — literally and figuratively — similar to hemlines over the centuries.

A video shows the making of an elaborate hairstyle from 1775.

“I didn’t want it to be a gallery of portraits,” said Bruna, so he mixed within the likes of fashion magazines, photographs and vintage hair combs.

“With or Without Hair?” is the show’s second section that delves into topics corresponding to facial hair. That was nonexistent within the Middle Ages, then beards from the sixteenth century became a show of noblesse, virility, strength and gallantry, and were sported by leaders corresponding to Francis I, Henry VIII and Charles V.

Bruna said it is tough to know if in real life people’s bodies were as hairless as those idealized and depicted in most sculptures, paintings and other images from yesteryear.

Venus, goddess of beauty, has all the time been represented without body hair, resulting in her name getting used for waxing products and a Gillette razor.

Conversely, old sketches from the École des Beaux-Arts, in addition to illustrations in medical books and pornography from the past showed nude figures with body hair.

“Body hair had the connotation of something dirty in our society and something very near sexuality,” Bruna said. That was true until the top of the 18th century.

Fast-forward to the Nineteen Seventies, and body hair for men was à la mode, especially within the U.S.

Baldness became more fashionable within the Fifties, as a result of actor Yul Brynner in “The King and I.”

The exhibit’s third section is “Intimacy, Hairpieces and Colours.”

In a single area, 12 wigs are in a display, including one from the time of Louis XIV, who lost his hair very young, and one other belonging to Andy Warhol.

Wigs were an indication of aristocracy in ancient Egypt. A sculpture from that point shows a girl wearing a wig, but letting her natural hair peek out from underneath.

A Givaudan perfumer reproduced the fragrance of a powder present in a wig case, which may be smelled on the exhibit.

Hair colours and their symbolism are spotlighted, including how blond has long been related to the Virgin Mary.

Wella Professionals global creative artist Alexis Ferrer creates printed digital hairpieces.

Springing to life the “Trades and Know-How” section are archival documents and small objects, corresponding to signs and tools.

There’s the dressing table from Jeanne Lanvin’s apartment and 11 mannequin heads manufactured from wax with various hairstyles and colours that used to line Parisian hair salons.

Fire-, gas- and electricity-powered hairdryers are shown.

“That may be a machine that revolutionized hair salons — it’s for permanents,” said Bruna, of a silver-colored model with dangling cords.

The primary shampoo, from Schwarzkopf, and DOP monodose sachets are here, alongside other products, corresponding to brillantine.

In the ultimate section, called “A Look Back at a Century,” iconic hairstylists of the twentieth and twenty first centuries spring to mind. Think chignons and the garçonne cut, pixie and voluminous styles, in addition to color gradations and long hair.

Fashion looks integrating hair by designers including Martin Margiela, Josephus Thimister and Jeanne Vicérial are displayed. There are, as well, photos of iconic hairstylists corresponding to the Carita sisters and Alexandre de Paris, who were a part of a union called the Syndicat de la Haute Coiffure Française, begun in 1945.

Bruna chosen some contemporary hairstylists, corresponding to Marisol, Shinji Konishi, Sam McKnight, Olivier Schawalder, Jean-Baptiste Santens and Charlie Le Mindu, who were asked to recreate their most emblematic looks.

How hair pertains to political protests can be explored. “Hair is greater than a fashion statement,” Bruna said.

Wella Professionals as principle sponsor

Wella Professionals is the principal sponsor of the “Hair and Hair” exhibition, and to assist rejoice that partnership, the brand unveiled Monday a recent range of products, called Ultimate Repair.

“Hair has such a tremendous history, and this exhibit captures 700 years of it,” said Annie Young-Scrivner, chief executive officer of Wella, adding the brand has 143 years of history behind it. “We’ve all the time felt our success is the success of the industry that we take part in.”

Wella’s first innovation was in beauty tech, a machine to create perms.

“We feel like hair is such a bit of culture, society and fashion, and we desired to elevate it,” Young-Scrivner said.

So to assist highlight the exhibit, it Wella is bringing viewers from across the globe.

“We’re leveraging this venue to speak concerning the history, but in addition to speak concerning the future,” the manager said.

The Ultimate Repair line features a patented technology utilized in its shampoo, conditioner, “miracle hair rescue” serum and protective leave-in conditioner spray.

“You possibly can mainly repair your hair damage in 90 seconds,” Young-Scrivner said.

The Ultimate Repair range will likely be on counter starting in France in two weeks.

Young-Scrivner wouldn’t discuss sales projections for the prestige line, but industry sources estimate Ultimate Repair could generate greater than $100 million in wholesale sales in its first 12 months.

Wella’s care business is 25 percent the dimensions of its color business.

“We’re going to take a much greater piece of the care side,” said Young-Scrivner, who estimates that might easily double.

Also syncing with the exhibition, Wella unveiled the GHD Duet Style Skilled 2-in-1 Hot Air Styler, which retails for 399 euros.