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[title]When you hear the words ‘London nightlife’, you’ll probably think of pint-sipping on Soho pavements, of mega nightclubs in former IKEAs and of drunken kebab queues in the early hours. The hairdressers might not spring to mind, but clusters of barber shops around the city are getting just as much late-night action.
‘Not everyone has the time to get a haircut during the day like everyone else, there’s people whose working hours are unfavourable – bar staff, security, office cleaners,’ one east London customer said to our photographer, Yushy Pachnanda. ‘Maybe for them, the best time for a cut is at 3am once the city is quiet.’
These places have a function beyond being somewhere to get a skin fade after dark. They’ve become vital intergenerational meeting points for their communities: offering warmth and friendly faces outside of the confines of the home.
‘There’s also people who don’t have that problem,’ the customer continues. ‘Barbershops have, over the decades, become genuine third spaces of social interaction where men can hang out with other men in their local area or that are associated with the specific barber; it’s a surprising place of solace and joy. I even remember as a child going to my father’s local Nigerian-owned barber at 9pm where it was just a mix of five to 10 men talking about life and issues back home. My father, being a taxi driver, needed a place where he could talk with others within that taxi community.’
I remember going to my father’s local Nigerian-owned barber at 9pm, where it was just 10 men talking about life
The importance of the barbershop chair as something much more than a place for a trim has started to gain recognition. Two years ago, Islington Council pioneered an initiative to provide mental health first aider training to black men working in barber shops in the area. And, in August, London South Bank University and Croydon BME Forum launched a project to train a pair of barber shops in the south of the city to offer customers free blood pressure tests, with a view to tackle undiagnosed health issues amongst black and Asian men.
Of course, barber shops are not restricted to London: they have become ubiquitous with the British high street. According to the Financial Times, around 20,000 registered barber shops operate across the country, and in London, many can be mapped with the diaspora they cater for: from Afro-Caribbean shops in Peckham to the Turkish barbers in Dalston, Green Lanes, and far beyond.
‘My dad used to take me to this barber shop after school,’ said a south London customer to our photographer. ‘I grew up with them. I work late hours now and when I finish I message the same barbers to keep the store open for me. We catch up, maybe have a cheeky drink. The prices haven’t changed that much, [so] it feels like being back in what Peckham used to be. They are so beneficial keeping community and tradition in a city of constant change.’
Yushy Pachnanda set out into the night to chronicle the community of London’s barbershops operating around the clock – from Muna Hair T Beauty in Peckham to ZK Cuts in Whitechapel and Palace Haircut in Hounslow. Check out the photos below.
‘We support the community... sometimes my friends come here to relax. We relax together’ – Palace Haircut, Hounslow
‘We’re here to make people look cool. At any time’ – Muna Hair T Beauty, Peckham
‘12 to 12, it doesn’t matter, someone will want a trim and people will come’ – Mohammad, ZK Cuts, Whitechapel
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