Strong Roots

Ludovic Branellec and Dr Rafael Fortus talk about Clinique de Paris, and how they transform patients and lives

- Tobias Tomas

Inside the L'Elysee room, named so after the presidential residence of France, is where Clinique de Paris managing director Ludovic Branellec and medical director Dr Rafael Fortus work tirelessly alongside their dedicated and accommodating staff. Though the clinic itself is new, their work is not. For nearly a decade, they have been using cutting-edge hair transplant technology to transform lives.

Branellec spent his childhood in the Philippines, first arriving here with his family when he was just three years old. “We were not really exposed to French culture,” he explains. “We grew up watching Filipino shows, eating Filipino cuisine and we picked up Filipino at a very young age.” But this gave rise to a problem: as a foreigner living in the Philippines, he did not feel he fully belonged. Likewise, during visits to France, there was a lingering sense of disconnect with the local culture. This issue of identity prompted him to move to Paris as a teenager. Here, he worked in the hospitality industry, far removed from the aesthetics field he would one day find himself in.