Inside Charlie Le Mindu’s hair-raising archive of fashion history

The inimitable Charlie Le Mindu is putting some of his most recognisable creations up for sale. Tomorrow (October 5), the Paris auction house Artcurial will present 21 works produced by the French hairstylist throughout his career, including several pieces created for Lady Gaga.

“I am evolving a lot in my practice and I feel like it is time for me to let go of my iconic pieces,” Le Mindu tells Dazed. “For many years people wanted to buy them and I refused. As I am coming back to costume and fashion, I need to clear my vision and finally trust that they will go to someone that will take care of them.”

For over a decade, Le Mindu has been producing wildly imaginative work that blurs the boundaries between hair, fashion and art. Not constrained by convention – or gravity –  Le Mindu has never followed the rules of hair and as a result, has been tapped to work with creative renegades like Vivienne Westwood and Peaches. He designed a hair whip for Julia Fox and was behind Art School’s chest hair designs.

It’s his collaborations with Lady Gaga, however, that are the most heavily represented in the collection that is going under the hammer. Among the pieces are a dress made of natural hair that Gaga wore during the promotion of the Born This Way album; a turquoise hair dress worn on The Paul O’Grady Show in 2011; a hair skull featured in an Out Magazine editorial of the singer, and the “Blonde Lips” that she wore in her “Bad Romance” music video in 2009.

“I used to go to the Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse maybe 15 times a year at least and befriend the cast,” Le Mindu says about the inspiration behind “Blonde Lips”. “I was obsessed with the lips the dancers were drawing when they were doing their make-up, as it is a very peculiar shape. It inspired me to design ‘Blond Lips’. It is the ultimate shape of glamour.”

Other pieces that will be available for collectors to purchase include costumes designed for the Berlin State Ballet and creations shot by Richard Burbridge for Paper Magazine. Prices are estimated to range from €10,000 to €200,000. Works of art in themselves, the collection cements Le Mindu’s status as one of the most important hairstylists working today.

Find out more about the auction here and see the catalogue of pieces in the gallery above.