Carol Pagès: "Young girls only go to the hairdresser once a year."

BarcelonaThe Raffel Pagès hair salon chain is celebrating its centenary in top form: with 65 salons, built by its 27 partners, and maintaining its partnership with L'Oréal, with which it has worked for 43 years. Since the death of Raffel Pagès in 2021Carol Pagès, the second generation of the company, is leading the family business. We spoke with her at the Raffel Pagès Museum, where the collection of hairdressing objects that her father amassed throughout his life is on display.

Raffel Pagès is celebrating one hundred years of history. You and your sister, Quionia Pagès, are continuing the company. How have you combined family tradition with your own professional ambitions?

— Reaching one hundred years is already a success, because we've had to reinvent ourselves a thousand times and adapt to all kinds of social, political, and economic changes. On May 10th, it will be one hundred years since my grandfather decided to stop being a mechanic and become a hairdresser after having a scare when a car he was fixing nearly killed someone. We've been hairdressers for a century, thanks to my grandfather Raffel.

Have you always wanted to follow the family tradition?

— As my father used to say, you're born with curlers, tongs, scissors, and hairdressing tools. I didn't mind that because it was trendy. In the end, I do believe that where you're born sets a standard for you, it determines who you are and what you do. Styles, clothes, and fashion have been ingrained in us since we were little; it's in our DNA. I trained in business and hairdressing because to be in charge, you have to know how things are done. You can't say, "Make me an omelet" if you don't have a clue how it's done. Then you have to surround yourself with good people. In our case, 98% of us are women, and I'm delighted because everything is much easier. I don't mind maternity leave and things like that. Still, it's true that in the hairdressing industry, the most well-known names are men; I don't know why.

At Raffel Pagès, I used the concept of emotional hairdressing. What does it entail?

— People are made of emotions. Dad always said he was a hairdresser of souls. When a client comes in, you have to look at her from head to toe and not put the gown on her, because if you do, you've already messed up because you can't see who she is. You discover a person's image over time, and I think it's after 30 that you begin to understand your essence.

Taking care of one's image has sometimes been considered superficial.

— As my father used to say, no one is immune to their image. Even the person who wants to be super cool. They'll do it according to the image they want to project, from the dog off a leash to the espadrilles or the haircut. No one is "I'll put this on and go out." Everyone is the image they convey.

Hairdressers have long been social places, spaces where women went to talk.

— Absolutely. Hairdressing is a profession of listening and silence. You can listen to the client when she tells you she's had an argument with her husband or son, but don't even think about asking about it next week, because it might already be fixed. That's the emotional part of the job. The professional part is understanding the client, knowing how to value her and listen to what she likes and dislikes, and ensuring she leaves happy with the result. Today, this has also changed: clients used to come every week, and now they come four or twice a year. Younger women only come once a year, when their ends are so long they're almost bothering them with their coat. When a client comes into a salon, you have to offer her all the possibilities, which are endless. But you also have to have well-trained teams, good products, good rituals, and innovate.

I was saying that young women rarely go to the hairdresser, but they do a lot of their nails. You've entered this sector with Good Nails, a manicure and pedicure franchise.

— We started this because we didn't have any young people. We said, "Let's see if we can find them." And we did. Manicures are a phenomenon. Latinas have imported this fashion, as well as eyelash and eyebrow care. Nails are booming. It's here to stay. The idea for Good Nails was born from a failed business: we tried to open an organic and vegan hair salon, and it was a bust, and we used the space to test it with nails. The vegan and organic salon didn't work because there isn't really a demand for it. But from a failure came a success, and we now have 34 locations.

Your father went to Paris and discovered a different way of doing hairdressing there. Which countries are currently setting trends in the industry?

— I think they've always been the same: France and Italy. I think Europe is still a benchmark. It's true that everything from Japan, like straightening, is also very fashionable now. But these things don't last.

One of the current trends is the vindication of gray and gray hair.

— The pandemic accelerated trends that were bound to come. Things arrived in two months that might have taken ten years. Plus, customers emerged from the pandemic more informed than ever because they spent two months watching trend videos on social media.

How do you imagine the future of Raffel Pagès and the hair salon?

— We, as a family, already have a presence. My daughter has been with the company for two years, although she's most excited about the nail salon because she's younger. As for the sector, there's no generational change because there aren't many people at 10:00 a.m. Why? We don't know. I think it's a matter of effort and that people don't want to be dependent on where they are. And hairdressing is a sector open to the public.