Captain Fawcett and BarbersRide has announced the phenomenal opportunity to own a bespoke work of art by the extraordinary Vincent Kamp, one of Britain’s most exciting and distinctive artists. The subject of the painting will be none other than the winner of this competition who will be invited to sit for their own portrait and as such, be forever immortalised in Vincent’s magnificently imagined world.
The competition opens on 28 April, 2021 and closes 30th June, 2021 at 11:59pm GMT.
Just 1,000 tickets will be made available and the winner will be decided by a raffle. Tickets are just £10 each. There is no limit to how many tickets you can buy, so more tickets means more entries and more chances of winning! All monies raised will be donated to Make-A-Wish.
Vincent Kamp will pick the winner out of a hat live on Instagram TV (date TBC).
This astounding competition is open to all, across the globe. However, the initial photographic studies for the painting will take place at Captain Fawcett’s HQ in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, UK.
All monies raised will be donated to the 2021 BarbersRide Charity Appeal for Make-A-Wish. By entering the draw, you will actively support their excellent work helping make dreams come true for seriously ill children and their families.
Vincent Kamp is known for sequences of highly cinematic paintings that tell a powerful tale. Populating his dark, gritty underground world of urban subculture, friends of the Captain Fawcett will recognise familiar faces, including Fawcett Ambassador Maxwell Newton. Vincent’s esteemed work is of such calibre & high renowned that original paintings sell for upwards of £10K. Good Lord!
To enter this competition to raise funds for charity, click here.
An Aberdeen barber group is giving its entire workforce the day off when pubs reopen to help boost the local economy.
Sovereign Grooming will close its Aberdeen salon on April 26 – the day lockdown restrictions are eased – to allow its team to support local food and drink businesses.
Kyle Ross, Sovereign Grooming’s managing director, said recent closures on the high street highlighted the importance of businesses standing together this spring.
He stated: “Our city centres are a business eco-system, and when one sector suffers, it has a knock-on effect for everyone.
“That eco-system has been on a knife-edge at various points over the past year and we feel it’s more important than ever to pull together and help our city centres recover.
“We employ 18 people, so in the grand scheme of things, this is a very small gesture. However, we feel it is important to send a message of support and solidarity, and to do our bit to support Scotland’s city centres.”
The barber group is also delaying the official opening of its flagship New Waverley salon in Edinburgh by 24 hours to give staff the chance to support nearby bars and restaurants.
Mr Ross, who launched Sovereign alongside business partner Ryan Crighton, has won a number of industry awards since opening, including Best Barber UK in 2017.
This week marks the fifth anniversary of Jake Hunker’s Barbershop in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. To celebrate, Hunker is donating $5 for every haircut he completes, from March 30 to April 3, to the Railroad Street Youth Project.
Throughout Hunker’s high school career, he said in a recent interview, “I was never one to really be into my books. I was more of a hands-on person.” This characteristic spurred an interest in motorcycle mechanics, but his frequent visits to the barber shop before his basketball games and school dances proved a more promising direction for Hunker’s future.
After the sudden closure of Hunker’s previous employer, Sim’s, the barber shop formerly located on Main Street in Great Barrington, he “was forced to make the choice to either go into business for myself, or find another direction … I took the plunge, and here I am starting my fifth year.”
While Hunker was confident he could make his business successful, he always tried to “pay attention to what made my clients happy and what made people comfortable in the barber shop. It’s definitely been a journey, to say the least, but I’m grateful to say I’ve made it.”
Over the course of his five years in business, Hunker estimates he has acquired 150–200 clients and predicts that, as long as he has a full schedule next week, he should be able to donate $400–$500 to Railroad Street Youth Project.
Hunker decided to go with RSYP because its mission resonated with him. According to the RSYP website, the organization “excels in helping youth find their voice and realize the benefits of their commitment to themselves and their community.”
RSYP is very grateful for the donation Hunker plans to make. “We are so touched that Jake thought to give back to us,” said Tiffany Riva, RSYP director of development. “We send Jake big congratulations on five years of success.”
Riva applauds Hunker’s motivation and his connection to what RSYP stands for. “At the end of the day it’s about Jake, this young person stepping into a leadership position,” Riva said. “These are all the components Railroad Street has in its mission — the intergenerational support, community supporting community — so we are just delighted.”
Hunker’s donation, Riva said, “will go towards helping to keep Railroad Street sustainable. It’s
The residents of Berkshire County seem to truly appreciate Hunker’s work and business in general. Jake’s Barber Shop has earned a five-star rating on Booksy, with over 180 reviews. The page is filled with comments praising his work. Customer Nate C. writes: “Jake’s is the only place I’ll go to get my hair cut. He’s extremely friendly, attentive, and has a clean and relaxed atmosphere in his shop!”
Hunker recognizes the support he’s received over the years from the town of Great Barrington. “I just want to show my appreciation in more ways than just continuing to provide haircuts,” he said. “I want to give back a little bit. This whole town put me where I am now.”
If interested in booking an appointment at Jake’s Barber Shop, visit booksy.com or call 413-717-4238.
What is the future of independent businesses? And more importantly, what do you want it to be?
The Retail Mutual has requested the opinions of the UK’s shop owners, retailers, and independent businesses on and off the High Street, just by taking part in their simple survey.
The survey invites independent business owners to say what you think is the future of independent businesses in your local area.
We were joined on Monday 28th September on EVOLive by Hannah McKnight.
EVOLive w/ Hannah McKnight
Hannah is a West Midlands based barber, multiple barbershop owner and platform artist – who kindly agreed to discuss her recent decision to close one of her barbershops.
It was a full and frank discussion around the challenges of stretching yourself too thinly, and the importance of finding the right work/life balance.
We hope you enjoy this EVOLive – feel free to watch in full above.
In a first for the global barber community, industry mogul Jay ‘Majors’ Raposo, creator of the CT Barber Expo, has launched the ‘Drive-in Education Seminar’ – which will take place on Sunday 18th October 2020.
Majors commented, “We can fit 200 vehicles at this particular facility located in central Connecticut. The cars will be spaced out for social distancing purposes and there will be food and adult beverages available for purchase.”
Given the particular challenges facing event hosts and creators throughout 2020 with the ongoing global pandemic, it’s refreshing to see such a unique concept being brought to life. We wish all involved the best of luck and can’t wait to hear all about it!
For more details please visit the CT Barber Expo instagram page here.
After a slight delay due to the country-wide lockdown, the Fellowship for British Hairdressing 2020 Sassoon Scholarship is now open for entry, with a new online element providing increased accessibility.
One lucky recipient will now be given the opportunity to choose two in-person Sassoon Academy courses, as well as two online Sassoon Academy courses. The winner will also receive a professional tool kit and can claim up to £50 per day towards travel and accommodation costs, courtesy of Denman International. On top of that, the Scholarship recipient will also receive PR profiling through the Fellowship.
Fellowship for British Hairdressing President Ken Picton says: “Vidal Sassoon was Patron of Honour for the Fellowship, and dedicated to supporting the next generation of hairdressing talent. The Sassoon Academy offers some of the best training in the world, but it’s not always within reach of every hairdresser. With this in mind, the Sassoon Scholarship was set up with the support of Denman International to make this world-class education available to all. We can’t wait to see this year’s applicants, and are delighted to be able to offer a life-changing education opportunity to one lucky recipient after what has been a challenging year for the industry.”
To apply, hairdressers need to fill out a form on the Fellowship for British Hairdressing’s website, outlining their career achievements to date and explaining why they think they deserve this incredible opportunity. The closing date for entries is Friday 18th September. After this date, 12 candidates will be interviewed online, with a shortlist announced on Friday 25th September. The judging panel will consist of members of the Fellowship Chancellery, as well as a representative from each supporting company. The judges’ decision is final.
Courses must be taken between October 2020 and May 2021 (subject to availability), and the scholarship is offered exclusively to Fellowship members.
As shops across the United States have begun to reopen, we know you’ll have more to think about than ever before – including how to keep your clients, your staff and yourselves safe.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) can be a major investment and Gillette wants to do its part for the barber community by providing equipment that can help better protect those of you back at work, along with your valued clients.
To help keep the barber community safe as shops are reopening, BarberEVO have teamed up with Gillette to donate 20,000 protective face shields to barbers across the United States.
This is part of a larger relief effort to support workers, relief agencies and communities on the front lines of this pandemic. To date, Gillette has produced and donated more than 300,000 face shields for health care workers in response to the needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lots of barbers across the US have received their face shields already:
“Shoutout to @Gillette for sponsoring our sweet new face shields! Shaves and facials have never been safer!”
Prodigy Salon// @prodigysalon
The Gillette face shields are great…Our clients love them and it gives them peace of mind to come in the shop to get a haircut – thank you!”
Marcus Williams// Marc Republic, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“#Salute to BarberEVO & Gillette for donating these face shields to barbers!”
Sipp the Surgeon// The Art of Barbering, Grand Prairie, Texas.
“The face shields help me out so much by protecting my clients and I from spreading anything around. Knowing I’m protected allows me to be at peace when cutting, I’m not so worried about the virus and I can focus on the haircut and taking care of my clients.”
Josue Morales// Sway Styles, Detroit, Michigan.
“We love the new Gillette face shields! They’re super light and comfortable. Not only are they providing important extra protection for all the barbers, but our clients also appreciate them because it shows we’re taking their safety seriously as well.”
Erik Zaiatz// Bostonian Barbershop, Boston, Massachusetts.
On Friday 31st July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced changes to the guidelines of close-contact services offered in salons and barbershops. The services due to reopen on 1st August have been postponed for at least two weeks due to an increase in COVID-19 cases across England.
While the decision is likely to be reviewed on or around the 14th of August, the services postponed in England for the moment include:
Facials of any kind such as chemical peels, dermaplaning, microneedling, hydrafacials, LED therapy, laser therapy, and microcurrent
Eyelash extensions, tints, waxing, or lifts
Eyebrow waxing, tints or reshaping
Threading or waxing anywhere on the face, acupuncture on the face, and make-up application.
Beard trimming will still be allowed for the moment but should be limited to simple beard trims, thinning and removing bulk or length, with the appropriate PPE worn at all times.
These rules apply to all beauty and hair professionals, including freelancers, mobile professionals, and retail and session make-up artists.
For guidance on close-contact services across the UK, click here.
HAVING BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS, IT’S SAFE TO SAY LAS VEGAS-BASED ELLIOTT CHESTER HAS A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE UNDER HIS BELT. BARBERING IS SO INGRAINED IN ELLIOTT’S WAY OF LIFE, HE BARELY REMEMBERS A TIME WHEN HE DIDN’T HAVE A PAIR OF CLIPPERS.
“I’ve always been a barber; my step-mom’s sister was married to this cat that cut his own hair, so there were always clippers in the house, so I just started cutting my own hair, my friends, people on the football team.”
As time went by, Elliott started taking regular trips to the barber with his dad, and in his sophomore year he was expelled from school for having his nickname shaved onto his head, despite the fact that a fellow student did the same thing and instead of being kicked out, his was considered ‘team spirit’. This led to a discrimination lawsuit against the school board, which became such a big deal in Arizona – where he was based at the time – that it was turned into an editorial cartoon in a paper.
The impact of the case drove him to become the barber he is today. “Not only through my hairstyle was I speaking up for my right to be different, but also my right to express myself, and it taught me that how you show yourself to the world is such a powerful thing.” After finishing school and spending some time in the local music scene, he needed a new direction and the one constant for him was his love of cutting hair. “I went to barber college in Bakersfield, California, and that was it, I just dumped all of my energy into it and it was something I became so passionate about.”
Bakersfield became his stomping ground for the first eight years of his career after graduation, working in salons where barbers worked alongside hairstylists in a shared space. Feeling limited by the small, conservative style of the town, Elliott started driving to and working weekends in Las Vegas where a friend of his owned a barbershop. “In Bakersfield I was charging $12 a cut, but in Vegas we were charging $20, so almost double, plus sometimes you’d get a $20 tip, so the move was a no-brainer.”
After working in his friend’s salon for just over a year, he read a salon magazine article about a barbershop in Caesar’s Palace (Truefitt & Hill), on the Las Vegas strip. “I had never seen anything like it, the barber chairs were beautiful, the barbers were all dressed in suits, they just looked dope…to me it was what barbering was supposed to be.”
Elliott, wearing shorts and a t-shirt at the time, immediately went out and got himself a suit just so he could feel adequately dressed to go into the shop and introduced himself as a barber and luckily, they were hiring. The master barber met him and offered him the opportunity to audition, which was, unsurprisingly, quickly followed up by a job offer, which turned into a year of incredible experiences.
From there, he was recruited by another barbershop on the strip, ‘The Art of Shaving,’ where he stayed for two years. “I really used that period as a time to learn and discover the style of barbering that I do, which is really catering to a higher-end clientele. It was like going back to school again and it made me realize what I wanted to do, which is when I stretched out and opened up Elliott and Company in December 2007.”
The shop, located just 15 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, takes inspiration from the old-school, traditional barbershops of the early 1900s. “I didn’t want it to be a throwback, I wanted to have those elements, but a modern representation of that.” Designed to be a welcoming space, rather than having all the chairs on one side of the room, the four chairs were across from each other to create open communication and group culture.
For Elliott, being a barber is about running a good business, to have a positive effect on the community and provide a great, relaxing experience. He has built up a diverse range of talented staff that reflects his wide client base so that everyone feels represented and welcome. “It’s not about me, or my shop, it’s about the customers, those guys are the stars, not me.”
“I made a conscious decision to put the retail section directly across from the seating areas so that when customers are waiting, they are looking directly at the retail products we offer, so they can maybe take home a piece of that barbershop experience with them,” Elliott explains, and this attitude to business has served him well as a Layrite ambassador.
“I had heard about Layrite before I met Donnie. I was introduced to the Layrite guys by Jay Majors at the International Beauty Show in Vegas and we hit it off real quick. I was looking for a good product line that I could really stand behind and I knew the history of Donnie and it meant a lot to me as a product line because a barber made it, it came from the barbering world. I wanted to support a product line that supports us as an industry, and the product works, Layrite Original Pomade is a staple.”
Establishing that relationship with Layrite meant a lot to Elliott because they understood what was going on in the barbering industry because they themselves were deeply entrenched in it.
“I was always really flattered if they asked for my feedback on products like the Natural Matte Cream or Cement Clay, you know they cared about my opinion. I just kept begging them for a decent shampoo and conditioner, not some ‘guys are lazy’ 3-in-1 bullshit, a real quality product and they listened and came out with a great shampoo and conditioner. Honestly, every product in their line is dope and it works really well, I use it every single time.”
Elliott was lucky enough to be in on the ground floor when Layrite began building the Band of Barbers with people like Jake Shipwreck, Kenny Duncan and more. “It was much more than just being sponsored by Layrite, it was a bunch of folk who really believe in education and in helping to grow the industry, so when they extended the invitation I was beyond honored. It’s the greatest professional honor of my career.”
