Toronto's OGX
A Traditional Barbershop Experience
With an aim to get back to basics, it’s time to talk about, the haircut. Here’s what you need to know about how to get your head in the right shape this season and how a remixing of the traditional barbershop is helping men appreciate that a trip to the barber’s can mean more than just a trim.
When you walk into Original Grooming Experts on the corner of Portland and Richmond in Toronto, you immediately get the feeling that this isn’t your ordinary barbershop. Despite occupying an auspicious corner framed by windows running floor to ceiling, the shop comes off as a comfy hangout. The head stylist’s big leather chair sits raised at the front of the room, and the barber’s pole reminds us of the barbershops of yore. Jazz plays over the speaker system and modern couches sit clustered next to a reclaimed wood beam with an array of vintage hair trimming tools and trinkets nailed into it. A place to play video games is set up next to a stylist delicately performing a straight razor shave, and the brand new mirrors and equipment shine in the afternoon sun but give off a, one can only assume, purposefully vintage vibe.
The shop is “very traditional” confirms Jason Culala, the shop’s owner and founder, while hanging out on the couches. It’s a Tuesday afternoon and the space is quiet, but homey. Jason provides a different kind of service that brings loyal clients coming back for more, “Guys are enjoying getting pampered more,” he says. “Dudes come at lunchtime for a community thing. They want to be a part of it and they fit it into their day.” He doesn’t say this lightly. Like any service industry, hair shops live or die by their clients.
“You learn etiquette. Etiquette is number one,” he explains, running over the basics of his schooling and what he teaches his stylists. A hybrid of salon, barbershop and beauty school, clients get a complimentary hot towel and paraffin hand wax with each treatment. In addition, employees get to evolve through Jason’s one on one schooling, attention, and encouragement to discover new talents.
Originally taught by a friend’s father, a third generation barber, Jason went on to work for the likes of Vidal Sassoon and Tony & Guy as an apprentice stylist, and he’s brought that mentality into his own shop. Time is put away every Wednesday to sit one on one with his stylists and work through a technique they want to improve. He could easily take clients to fill up those hours, but the development outweighs the profit in those instances. “It’s pride. I wouldn’t put my time into education if I didn’t believe in it. You build the people and the people build the business.”
“You learn how to clean your tools, to be presentable. You learn the anatomy of the head. We view everything from a technical standpoint.” This tradition of technicality runs deep in this business. “Once you know the shapes and the way the hair falls, you’re bulletproof.”
The education is only one traditional aspect of his shop—dipping into their own unique brand of nostalgia, barbershops like Jason’s are reaching to their history to create an aura of times passed, a moment in time where life moved a little bit slower. For men, the space between barbershop, spa, and salon is closing fast, and everyone wants to be in the middle of it.
Described on their website as a “BarberSalon,” Jason aims to share his knowledge of grooming, both in the hygienic and sartorial aspects. The added bonus of pampering lends to that ideal of really taking care of every aspect of one’s self, a notion that has dominated the female space, but that men are jumping on board with faster than you can say “hot towel.”
He continues, “I’m not talking so much the aesthetics portion but what guys like to do. They like to stick to old school traditions. The main theme here is timeless.”
That timelessness is a sentiment that mirrors the current styles men are choosing. Fades with well-coifed tops, no fuss hair lines paired with high maintenance facial hair, and the ease of the ‘man bun’ are all looks that have been dominating runways and pop culture this season.
Classic and coiffed, there’s no denying that more thought, time, and energy is going into men’s hair styling than ever before. No longer an errand to rush, haircutting has become an experience to savour.
With an aim to get back to basics, it's time to talk about, the haircut. Here’s what you need to know about how to get your head in the right shape this season and how a remixing of the traditional barbershop is helping men appreciate that a trip to the barber’s can mean more than just a trim.
When you walk into Original Grooming Experts on the corner of Portland and Richmond in Toronto, you immediately get the feeling that this isn’t your ordinary barbershop. Despite occupying an auspicious corner framed by windows running floor to ceiling, the shop comes off as a comfy hangout. The head stylist’s big leather chair sits raised at the front of the room, and the barber’s pole reminds us of the barbershops of yore. Jazz plays over the speaker system and modern couches sit clustered next to a reclaimed wood beam with an array of vintage hair trimming tools and trinkets nailed into it. A place to play video games is set up next to a stylist delicately performing a straight razor shave, and the brand new mirrors and equipment shine in the afternoon sun but give off a, one can only assume, purposefully vintage vibe.
You learn how to clean your tools, to be presentable. You learn the anatomy of the head. We view everything from a technical standpoint.The shop is “very traditional” confirms Jason Culala, the shop’s owner and founder, while hanging out on the couches. It’s a Tuesday afternoon and the space is quiet, but homey. Jason provides a different kind of service that brings loyal clients coming back for more, “Guys are enjoying getting pampered more,” he says. “Dudes come at lunchtime for a community thing. They want to be a part of it and they fit it into their day.” He doesn’t say this lightly. Like any service industry, hair shops live or die by their clients.
“You learn etiquette. Etiquette is number one,” he explains, running over the basics of his schooling and what he teaches his stylists. A hybrid of salon, barbershop and beauty school, clients get a complimentary hot towel and paraffin hand wax with each treatment. In addition, employees get to evolve through Jason’s one on one schooling, attention, and encouragement to discover new talents.
Originally taught by a friend’s father, a third generation barber, Jason went on to work for the likes of Vidal Sassoon and Tony & Guy as an apprentice stylist, and he’s brought that mentality into his own shop. Time is put away every Wednesday to sit one on one with his stylists and work through a technique they want to improve. He could easily take clients to fill up those hours, but the development outweighs the profit in those instances. “It’s pride. I wouldn’t put my time into education if I didn’t believe in it. You build the people and the people build the business.”
“You learn how to clean your tools, to be presentable. You learn the anatomy of the head. We view everything from a technical standpoint.” This tradition of technicality runs deep in this business. “Once you know the shapes and the way the hair falls, you’re bulletproof.”
The education is only one traditional aspect of his shop—dipping into their own unique brand of nostalgia, barbershops like Jason’s are reaching to their history to create an aura of times passed, a moment in time where life moved a little bit slower. For men, the space between barbershop, spa, and salon is closing fast, and everyone wants to be in the middle of it.
Described on their website as a “BarberSalon,” Jason aims to share his knowledge of grooming, both in the hygienic and sartorial aspects. The added bonus of pampering lends to that ideal of really taking care of every aspect of one’s self, a notion that has dominated the female space, but that men are jumping on board with faster than you can say “hot towel.”
He continues, “I’m not talking so much the aesthetics portion but what guys like to do. They like to stick to old school traditions. The main theme here is timeless.”
That timelessness is a sentiment that mirrors the current styles men are choosing. Fades with well-coifed tops, no fuss hair lines paired with high maintenance facial hair, and the ease of the ‘man bun’ are all looks that have been dominating runways and pop culture this season.
Classic and coiffed, there’s no denying that more thought, time, and energy is going into men’s hair styling than ever before. No longer an errand to rush, haircutting has become an experience to savour.