Dr Kashmal Kalan is the medical director of the Johannesburg ALVI ARMANI clinic and a leading figure in the field of advanced hair restoration in South Africa.
With a strong academic background and a passion for both surgical precision and aesthetic medicine, Dr Kalan brings a rare combination of skill and compassion to his
practice.
He is an honorary member of the International Golden Key Society and a graduate with distinction from the Wits School of Medicine, Dr Kalan received his training at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital – one of South Africa’s most prestigious teaching hospitals – where he developed deep expertise in surgical
disciplines. His dedication to emergency and trauma medicine led him to serve at the Hillbrow Community Health Centre, further refining his surgical skills and clinical knowledge.
Dr Kalan holds multiple internationally accredited certifications, including Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS), Pediatric
Advanced Life Support (PALS), and Neonatal Resuscitation. His professional journey
into cosmetic medicine ultimately led him to head the Johannesburg branch of ALVI ARMANI
Personally selected and trained by Dr Baubac Hayatdavoudi – Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration and widely regarded as the world’s leading hair transplant surgeon – Dr Kalan upholds the clinic’s global reputation for precision and excellence.
His work reflects the Vitruvian Methodology of Hair Restoration, developed by Dr Antonio Armani, which emphasises facial framing, dense packing, and mega sessions using minimally invasive FUE techniques.
Dr Kalan takes a holistic approach to hair loss, combining medical and surgical solutions tailored to each patient. With access to the most advanced tools and
protocols in the field, he is committed to delivering results that not only restore hair but also confidence and self-image. Under his leadership, the Johannesburg ALVI
ARMANI clinic continues to exceed patient expectations with a standard of care that
blends science, innovation, and artistry.
“I realised my true
passion lies in
helping people from
a medical
perspective and
that is when my
journey into
becoming a medical
doctor started.” said Dr. Kashmal Kalan
In an exclusive interview with showbiz scope, Dr. Kashmal Kalan got candid on every hair restoration conundrum and trends:
What is hair loss, and who does it affect?
“Hair loss is a condition whereby you are losing your hair on the top of your scalp. There are many ways in which hair loss can occur.
We’ve got what we call androgenetic alopecia, which is by far the commonest type of hair loss that males and females experience, and the more colloquial term for this is male pattern balding or female pattern balding.
We’ve got our genetics that together with the hormones within our body work together to slowly cause thinning in the hair and once that thinning has progressed far beyond its point that thinning progresses into a level of balding and this is what we see most commonly from a hair loss perspective.
In terms of other hair loss causes, there is a multitude or a multi-factual approach to hair loss in essence. We also have lifestyle changes such as styling cues like braids, weaves that cause traction alopecia, and chemical relaxers that cause damage to the follicles because of the permanent chemicalization of that follicle
We’ve also got medical causes such as thyroid, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D deficiencies, and even more so than just your mineral and vitamin deficiencies.
We also see hair loss in our cancer post chemotherapy patients. We see hair loss in patients that have autoimmune conditions where your body almost starts producing antibodies towards your hair follicles, and this in itself can lead to hair loss.
In terms of who does it affect, hair loss is one of the most unifying factors in our population. It is unifying because it affects both males and females, young and old Caucasian, Asian, and African.
There is no limitation point to who hair loss can affect. The global studies show that in one’s lifetime or in a population’s lifetime at least 67%, so two thirds of that population will experience hair loss at some point in their life. Obviously other factors can influence the rate and age in which you are experiencing your hair loss, but I would say quite commonly at least two thirds of the population will experience some form of hair loss at some point in their life.”
You’ve worked with some of the biggest names in SA – from the likes of AB de Villiers to J’Something and Natasha Vermaak (formerly Joubert). What’s driving celebs to restore their hair?
“You know we’ve worked with some of the biggest names that is correct, A.B. de Villiers, J. Something and former Miss SA Natasha Vermaak, what’s driving celebs to restore the hair?
I think the beauty with celebrities these days is that they are seeing themselves as more than just a celebrity on screen. They see themselves as people or other influences that can use the spotlight to influence people in positive ways.
Now being on camera constantly, being in the limelight constantly, naturally you want to look and feel your best and for a male or female that’s losing the hair, whether you’re celebrity or not, it can play a role in reducing our confidence, our self-esteem and honestly not making you feel exactly like who you are.
So, in terms of what is driving them to restore their hair, definitely to ensure that they look and feel their best. They also understand that we now have real-world medical and surgical solutions to combat these formal sort of hair loss problems that didn’t have proper interventions for it.
Most importantly, I think being a spotlight or being or using their influence in a positive way is what’s really driving them to be open and share their stories.”
How does hair loss affect confidence, especially for public figures in the spotlight?
“They need to be in the spotlight all the time, not looking and feeling your best definitely takes a significant toll on your confidence and self-esteem, more important to that is if hair loss affects you, even if you’re a celebrity or not, you want to take measures to ensure that you can do something about it.
Our celebrities have obviously the ones that we’ve worked with, been open to sharing their journeys and stories, not so that they’re just helping themselves, so that they’re helping people under their influence. And I think that has been the beauty with our South African industry of the late way.
People are not selfish about things that work and help them. They want to share these tools and techniques, they want to share these procedures so that not only their confidence can be restored, the confidence of many people that may be unaware of these procedures or unwilling to get them done because they are scared or have nerves, having someone in the spotlight share their journey in a positive manner and having those people see the positive impact it had made on them and the results that it’s given them has 100% most certainly allowed them to influence their masses in a positive way.”
Hair restoration is often seen as a “men’s thing.” Are you seeing more women coming in for procedures like brow or hairline refinement?
“100%. So, you know, I think hairless is more commonly spoken about in the male world because it’s something that is seen more commonly. But our females also experience a level of hair loss, be it thinning, be it hairline recessions, be it the forehead increasing, be it temple recessions, and now very commonly be it eyebrow transplant.
So, with our females, a lot of times in the African population , specifically, we deal with more traction alopecia, which affects the hairline region. So, we are restoring the hairlines. But in all ethnicities, brows are something that’s become such an important part of the face. And when you lose your brow, it’s almost like you lose the expressions within your face. So, we are doing commonly eyebrow transplants for our female patients, and having said that, there are also male patients that would come through for eyebrow transplants and beard transplants.
We’re not only focusing on transplantation on the scalp anymore. We are now able to transplant in the scalp, the eyebrows, the beard, the mustache, etc.”
We’re seeing more celebs open up about hair restoration, but is it only for them? Who else can benefit from these procedures?
“Anyone that is suffering from hair loss to a point where it affects them mentally or to a point where it’s affecting them physically, I would encourage them to reach out for a consultation and see what treatment roots and options are available to them.
So, putting it simple, hair restoration is for everyone. It’s not just for selecting a few. It’s not only for celebs.
We do have a multitude of payment plans and payment options that have allowed this to become affordable for the general public. So don’t foresee a hair transplant as being a procedure that is only for the select few. We at Alvi Armani, particularly in South Africa, our aim is to ensure that we help as many people as possible. So yes, it’s for everyone.”
What are some of the wildest myths you’ve had to debunk around hair transplants?
“So, you know, being in the industry for so long now, I mean, I can literally spend an hour giving you all the myths. But I think what we often see with hair loss restoration is that it’s a one-stop solution that fixes all.
So, you’ll have a gent that is completely bald that doesn’t have much hair on the sides and back of his scalp, but he’s been made to believe that a hair transplant will give him a full head of hair back. So that’s probably one of the craziest myths.
The other myth is that it’s extremely painful. I think it looks more painful than it actually is. So, people should rather come through and have the procedures themselves and understand that this is actually quite a minimally invasive and pain-free procedure.
The other myth is that it causes a tremendous amount of scarring. With new tools and technologies and particularly the FUE hair transplant method, we’ve almost made these procedures as scarless as possible.
Yes, you can get hypo-pigmented spots in the donor region in some patients, but we leave no linear scars behind, so patients are able to cut the hair short after the procedures. And I think a lot of people have it as a myth that if you do a transplant, you 100% will have scars on the scalp.
And I think finally not so much around hair transplants, more or less around hair loss prevention. There’s a multitude of myths like onion, juice, snake oil, lotions, and potions that come from abroad that all claim to regrow your hair.
Unfortunately, hair loss is rooted in medical science, and therefore, the only way to combat it favourably is to look at the treatment from a medical perspective as well.”
Alvi Armani is headquartered in Beverly Hills. How has that global exposure shaped your approach to hair transplants in SA?
“I think the beauty of being a part of a global brand like Alvi Armani is that we’ve been in the industry since 1999. So that gives us 26 years of experience. Having our head office in Beverly Hills where obviously aesthetics, innovation, intervention, Hollywood, etc. is obviously something that is, you know, loud and proud there,
I would say Beverly Hills, just in general in terms of industry, are at least four to five years ahead of where we are in South Africa.
Having our head office there has allowed us to bring these tools and interventions and innovations to our patients as they are happening in Hollywood or as they are happening in Beverly Hills.
So, there’s no longer this first and third world country discrepancy where we’re waiting for things to come here while it’s happening elsewhere.
From a hair transplant perspective, whatever is happening on a global stage is exactly what we are providing our patients with here locally. The other important thing about having our head office is that we’ve got our own research and development team that are constantly looking for and seeking the best of the best in terms of tools, in terms of protocols, in terms of procedures.
That just keeps us abreast with what’s happening and allows us to provide our patients here on the African continent with literally first world interventions.”
What trends are you seeing in hair restoration among celebs and influencers?
“I think the trends that we are seeing are that more and more celebs and influencers are having these procedures done because they understand the value of it.
In the past, being in the celeb and influencer world, there’s always make-up and weaves and hairsprays and all the bunch of things you can do to make yourself look good. But the minute you offset, you go back to not having those interventions.
So, in your day-to-day normal life, you might not have the hairsprays and the makeup on to make your hair look full again.
I think they have taken that approach themselves whereby, why do we only need to look good on set? We can look good at any stage of our lives if we take on these hair restoration procedures.
So, particularly for influencers and celebs that are troubled by hair loss or experiencing hair loss, they’ve realised that you know your hair transplant procedures are the only real way to get your hair back. Instead of going down a route of shampoos, conditioners, and lotion potions, they would rather seek medical care and surgical care and get it done properly the first time.”
What should anyone considering a hair transplant look for in a surgeon or clinic?
“I think the important thing is to look at the clinic’s history. So, with Alvi Armani South Africa, we’ve been around since late 2018 to 2019. So, we already have around six years of practice here.
We’ve got our head office or international base that has been around since 1999. So, we have truly six years of experience in totality.
We form part of a global network, or you should look for clinics that form part of a global network so that you can ensure that you know first world standards are being brought to our country here.
And more importantly I think you need to know your doctor, look at who’s doing the procedure, the team that’s working on you, looking at all the before and after results, looking at what sort of associations they belong to locally and internationally.
And I think it’s about going there, getting a feel of the place, speaking to the people that will be working on your case, and you know if you feel comfortable then that’s the place to go.
Go for, but don’t be duped by marketing. Don’t be duped by Black Friday specials. Don’t be duped by cheap pricing because that is often when things don’t go right.”
What advice would you give to anyone considering hair restoration but feeling nervous about taking the first step?
“You know taking the first step with anything in life and specifically when it comes to medical procedures is always a nerve-wracking situation but people that are troubled and are bothered by hair loss, the only delay you are doing or the only disservice you are doing to yourself is delaying taking that first step.
So yes, it’s common to feel nervous, it’s common to have a bit of anxiety around these procedures but instead of just googling, instead of going on chat GPT, come for and speak to the professionals, let us give you and sort of game plan as to what can be done for your case.
Not everyone needs a hair transplant, not everyone is a surgical candidate but without having a professional reviewing your case without having taken that first step to start the journey you will never know what you could get out of it.
So again, they always say there’s no better time than now when it comes to hair loss. There’s no better time than yesterday. So do not delay taking that first step because if you delay too long, you might be left wanting pain.”
By Sinenzolo Mondi
