French hairdresser patrick alès dies at 88

One of Frances' most sought-after hairdressers has died at the age of 88. Patrick Alès is perhaps most famous for inventing 'Le Brushing' in the 1960s, a blow-drying technique that gives hair a glamorous, full-bodied look. "From Catherine Deneuve to Jackie Kennedy, Patrick Ales has styled the biggest celebrities and was a pioneer in creation of innovative plant-based treatments for hair," the Alès group said in a statement. The group has not confirmed a cause of death. Patrick was born Jesus Gonzalez in Northern Spain in 1930. He fled with his family to France when he was seven years old to escape the civil war that would bring the dictator Francisco Franco to power. While a teenager he started working as a messenger for a leading Parisian hair salon. He rose through the ranks to become a star hairdresser in his own right. It was his 1964 creation of "Le Brushing," in which locks of wet hair are meticulously brushed while being blow dried, that secured Ales' place as one of  hairdressing's greats. The resulting hairstyles were sophisticated and glamorous, and they were in demand from women globally, including opera diva Maria Callas, Catherine Deneuve and Jackie Kennedy. In the early 1970s Patrick noticed the damage inflicted on the hands of his hairdressers from some products. As a result he launched the Phytosolba laboratories to come up with less aggressive plant-based treatments. He later branched out into skin care and cosmetics, acquiring the Lierac labs in 1979. But despite his contributions to the hairdressing industry Alès never became a household name. In recent years, his Alès group ran into financial turbulence, and in 2015 he stepped down as president while remaining head of the supervisory board, before handing the post to his son Romain last year.