A Cut Above
Is a barbershop simply a barbershop wherever you go? Ian Harold talks us through his love affair with travel, the perspective it provides, and the people watching it demands
words by Ian HARROLD
I bloody love airports. I can’t tell you why, exactly. There’s just something about them. They have a sort of microcosmic charm to them, I guess: They’re small, self-contained worlds unto themselves, entire universes all under one roof.
I know a lot of people tend to find airports quite stressful. Not me. There’s something to be said for the soothing notion of being led along a particular path. You’re no longer in control, you’re just along for the ride. The only thing that’s left to do is go with the flow. That, and people watch, of course. I’m not entirely sure what that says about me, but there you go. I’m not really looking to wax philosophical on the human condition and it’s need for direction or its inherent, implicit fear of stasis. I guess all I’m really saying is that I bloody love airports.
Which is just as well, because I happen to have visited a lot of them. I’m lucky in the sense that my work tends to keep me on my toes in terms of travel. From product launches, to demos, to symposiums, barbering has taken me far and wide over the years. From the sun-kissed beaches of Miami to the frost-bitten back streets of Moscow (not nearly as sinister as it sounds, but all the same: don’t ask). It’s a privilege, no doubt. Aside from the sights, sounds and sensations of somewhere new, travelling has given me the great fortune of witnessing first hand the myriad different ways in which people interpret the same thing. The humble barber shop is as good of an example as any in that respect.
Many would say that a barbershop is a barbershop wherever you go, but they’d be dead wrong by my reckoning. The truth is that the humble barber shop enters into the cultural lexicon very differently depending on where that barbershop happens to be. From New York to Istanbul, the barber’s societal role can vary dramatically depending on the cultures that orbit it, as can a barber’s skill sets, style and expertise. From cultural hubs to LGBTQ safe spaces, from places of counsel and life advice, to self-confessed sanctuaries for ‘scumbags and scoundrels’, the barbershop dons many a mask across the globe.
And long may it continue to do so. They say variety is the spice of life, after all, and while I hate to lean on a cliché I’d say I’m inclined to agree. The opportunity to broaden your horizons is far and away one of the greatest, most appealing features of travel, and certainly one of the reasons why I feel so fortunate to be doing what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. That, and the airports. I bloody love airports. IH
Follow Ian on Instagram @Ianharrold1
