2023-08-19 02:30:04
Freelance hairdressers David Vincent Marotta (in the foreground) and Charlotte Brochot (behind the mirror), at the “coworking” space La Fabrica, in Paris, August 17, 2023. BRUNO LEVY / DIVERGENCE FOR “THE WORLD”
“I wanted to have the freedom to carry out my job without constraints. Today, I can work at 6 a.m., at 10 p.m., on Sundays. I choose my clients, I have a real relationship with them, I no longer spend my time running. »
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After thirty years in hairdressing, David Marotta confides that he has never been so happy in the exercise of his profession. After running a salon for ten years, he started as a freelancer in 2019 and works at La Fabrica, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
Here, everything looks like a hairdressing salon, except that there is neither boss nor employees: La Fabrica is a place where around forty microentrepreneur hairdressers rent seats by the hour (for 15 euros), the day or the month, to receive their customers. Impossible, therefore, to have your hair cut unexpectedly, since the reservation is compulsory. It is also impossible to distinguish who is a customer and who is a hairdresser, in the space where everyone can relax with a drink while waiting for their appointment.
” A state of mind “
This place is a “coworking” of hairdressers, according to their founders, Julien Dauger and Nicolas Auber, engineers by training. The model, inspired by the United States, is emerging in several cities. Each craftsman has his own specialty: curly hair, extensions, color… One of them even only offers mullet cuts. “We are not competitors, we are complementarytestifies David Marotta. I send some clients to others, we exchange advice, it’s a state of mind. »
Second sector of the craft industry in France, hairdressing is in full reinvention. According to the firm Altares, 602 salons were declared bankrupt in the first half of the year, an increase of 49% compared to the same period of 2022, and 181% compared to 2021. This fragility is explained by inflation, because it has both exploded the costs of shops (water, electricity, products) and reduced the purchasing power of customers, who space out their passages under the scissors a little more. The Covid-19 pandemic has also been there: nearly 20,000 salons must now repay their state-guaranteed loan.
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But inflation is accelerating a movement that has been at work for several years: the sector being very competitive, especially in the big cities, openings and closings are frequent. It is especially the small salons that are struggling to survive, especially since recruitment difficulties are also at an all-time high. According to the 2023 labor needs survey by Pôle emploi, 77.4% of recruitments of hairdressers and beauticians are considered difficult, compared to 61% for all trades.
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