Amy Meshkati’s treatments are innovative but not intrusive, based on years of research into forensically detailed hair-matching, and requiring complex three-day procedures.

Her list of clients, whose identities she keeps a closely guarded secret, ranges from Middle Eastern potentates and Saudi wives to Hollywood stars and English musicians. One of her most famous clients told the world that, following his treatment at the hands of ‘Amy in Paris’, he was so impressed, ‘I threw my hat collection away’. After that, says Amy, ‘the phone never stopped ringing’.

Amy studied biology at the University of Paris. Her initial interest was in researching treatments for alopecia. ‘It’s such a devastating sickness,’ she says. ‘I was very touched by the parents who came with their young children, searching for a cure.’

From that starting point she became involved in hair-loss treatment when it was a very imperfect science. ‘Prevention treatment was very limited,’ she says, ‘and corrective action mainly meant a hair transplant – the results were not natural or appealing at all!’ She began researching hair-loss therapy and offering solutions. ‘I was very young,’ she says, ’but passionate about my work. Some very important people trusted me, and word quickly spread.’ She also invented a range of hair products that helped to prevent hair loss. 

Amy shudders as she contemplates the hair-restoring treatments of the 1990s: ‘The old punch-graft technique, the strip method, where you sliced off the back of someone’s scalp. All these awful surgical practices – I wasn’t offering any of them.’ 

What did she do that was different? ‘We take samples of the hair and I send it to the lab for detailed analysis, a process called DNA-Matched – assessing, among other properties, the texture, the colour, the fineness – and we match it to hair from our hair-clinic “bank”, donated by people all over the world. Some patients have extremely fine or damaged hair, and we take the opportunity to make their hair healthier and shinier.  We want to improve what can be improved, but with natural, undetectable results. That’s where my success lies, because I can achieve a result that makes a person happy.’ 

Having selected the ideal hair type, Amy distributes the substitution hair over the scalp, using nanopoints and following the line of the existing hair. The procedure is permanent. ‘It takes about 18 hours, spread over three-four days,’ she says. ‘One person. You can’t share it – you have to have the same weight of work during the procedure. One specialist to one intervention.’

Do the patients take ages to recover? ‘They can play sport straight away or go to a hairdresser,’ says Amy, ‘There are no side effects.’

Since last summer Amy has been operating from a spanking new address in Belgravia. Of her five daughters – a veritable girl band, comprising Claudine, Caroline, Catherine, Corinne and Celine – three live in London, in various stages of becoming engagée. When she is not spending time with her family, Amy travels a lot – often to meet her international clientele. And she loves her work. ‘My clients become lifelong friends. I’ve had a few who’ve said, “This is the best day after my wedding and the birth of my baby.” It’s a very impactful job. It changes people’s lives.’