Odile Gilbert has been described as France's "most celebrated female hairstylist",Chu, Ying

Marie Claire. Hearst Magazines. 1 October 2009. and is the only woman in that profession to have received the French honor ''

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

''. Her career has been based in Paris and New York.

Biography

Born in Brittany, Gilbert started her career in 1975 as first assistant to the famous hairstylist Bruno Pittini, in his salon and studio. Working with Pittini allowed her to meet celebrities and work on fashion shows and advertising photo shoots. In 1982, she moved to New York and started working for fashion and beauty editorials in famous fashion magazines with well-known photographers such as

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-a ...

Herb Ritts Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on black a ...

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Is ...

, Steven Klein,

Peter Lindbergh Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director. He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to photo ...

Jean-Baptiste Mondino Jean-Baptiste Mondino (born Aubervilliers, France on 21 July 1949) is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He has directed music videos for Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Björk, Don Henley, Neneh Cherry, Axel Bauer and Les Ri ...

and

Paolo Roversi Paolo Roversi (born 1947) is an Italian-born fashion photographer who lives and works in Paris. Early life Born in Ravenna in 1947, Paolo Roversi's interest in photography was kindled as a teenager during a family vacation in Spain in 1964. Ba ...

, among others. She styled the hair of models in advertising campaigns for fashion and perfume houses, such as

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

Lancôme Lancôme () is a French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house that distributes products internationally. Lancôme is part of the L'Oréal Luxury Products division, which is its parent company and offers luxury skin care, fragrances, and makeup at ...

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...

and

Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs inc ...

. Her best known work was on fashion shows, on which she worked with the designers, in some cases for many years. In 2000, she opened her own agency in Paris, l'atelier(68), to take care of her career and also represent new talents to the beauty industry. In 2001, she created her hair accessory line, Odile Gilbert Créations. In 2003, she published ''Her Style, Hair by Odile Gilbert'' at Steidl/7L Editions (), prefaced by

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

. In 2005,

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

hired her as stylist for the eponymous main character of her film ''

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child and ...

'', played by

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the short ''Oedipus Wrecks'' directed by Woody Allen in the anthology film ''New York Stories'' (1989). She then gained recognition for her rol ...

. In 2006 she received from

Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (born 13 March 1954 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), often known as RDDV, is a French politician, France's Minister of Culture from 2004 to 2007. He is a member of the UMP center-right party, and the grandson of Henri Donnedieu ...

, the French Minister of Culture and Communications, the honorable insignia of ''

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

''."Fashion junkie: Odile Gilbert, hairstylist"
The Telegraph (Fashion), 15 May 2006 To date, she is the only female hairstylist with this honour. In 2007, the

Costume Institute The Anna Wintour Costume Center is a wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's main building in Manhattan that houses the collection of the Costume Institute. The center is named after Anna Wintour, the longtime and current editor-in-chief of ' ...

of the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

of New York bought for their permanent collection one of the top hats made of natural hair she created for Jean Paul Gaultier's Haute-Couture AW 2006 show."New Met exhibit gives fashion fodder to bloggers"
The Hour, 1 January 2008.

Awards

*'' Trophées de la Mode'' 1997 & 1999 *'' Vénus de la Mode'' 1999, 2004 & 2006 *'' Victoires de la Beauté'' 2003 *''

'' (July 2006)

References

External links

* http://www.exposureny.com/ * http://www.style.com/peopleparties/modelsearch/thumb/person1490 * http://www.style.com/peopleparties/parties/slideshow/110903OGBP/?iphoto=0 * https://web.archive.org/web/20080615133247/http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/295fa9553299a6d82d8c1ae64cab8b77/Odile_Gilbert,_Hair_Stylist..html {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Odile Year of birth missing (living people) Living people French hairdressers French expatriates in the United States