Odile Gilbert started her career in 1975 as first assistant to the famous hairstylist Bruno Pittini, in his salon and studio. Working along 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 big photographers such as Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Irving Penn, Steven Klein, Peter Lindbergh, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Paolo Roversi, among others.
Renowned fashion and perfume houses, such as Calvin Klein, Lancôme, Giorgio Armani and Jean-Paul Gaultier, entrusted her with styling the hair of models in their advertising campaigns. Her best known work was on fashion shows, on which she worked in tight co-operation with the designers, in some cases for many years.
In 2000, she opened her own agency in Paris, l’atelier, 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. In 2005, Sofia Coppola calls her to do the Art Direction of the main character of her next movie, played by Kirsten Dunst, Marie-Antoinette. In 2006 she received from Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the French Minister of Culture and Communications, the honorable insignia of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. To date, she is the only female hairstylist with this honour. In 2007, the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum 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.
Hair: Odile Gilbert
Makeup: Tom Pecheux
Photography: Peter Lindbergh
Image Source: Visual Optimism