1 · POSITION
Born in Saint-Tropez, apprenticed in Cannes at sixteen, and made by a single wedding: in 1946 he dressed the hair of Yvette Labrousse, Miss France 1930, for her marriage to the Aga Khan, and perfected the variation on the chignon that carried his name into the Duchess of Windsor’s circle and from there to Isabelle comtesse de Paris, Queen Sirikit and Princess Grace.
2 · ⚑ THE HOSPITAL IN LONDON
In 1961 Elizabeth Taylor fell ill with pneumonia during early production on *Cleopatra*. Asked by her husband what would make her feel better, she said: bring me Alexandre. He flew to London, and three nurses held her upright in her hospital bed while he created the artichoke cut she wore to the Academy Awards that year, winning her first Oscar. The Library records it because it is the purest instance of the thing this register is about: a service that goes to the person, wherever they are, and does not treat the circumstances as an obstacle.
3 · WHAT HE BUILT
Paris in 1952 with the Carita sisters, his own salon on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1957 with a logo by Jean Cocteau, a second on avenue Matignon, a line of hair accessories from 1971, fifteen years leading Intercoiffure Mondial, two Oscars de la Mode, the Légion d’Honneur. He worked with Chanel, Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Balmain, Gaultier and Mugler.
4 · WHAT THIS MODEL DOES NOT SOLVE
A practice built entirely on one pair of hands cannot be transferred, and the register shows what happened: the salon was sold in 1990 and the brand in 2002, and the name has now traded for longer without him than with him. He taught extensively, which is the only answer anyone in this trade has found, and it is a partial one.