Welcome to the Gentlemen's Club
The Revitalization of the Barbershop
As it becomes more and more common to pursue traditional means of being well kept, regular trips to the hairdresser are a must in the maintenance of good style. But combing through all the fluff to find the right place for you and your hair can be just as tough as keeping yourself well dressed. It’s about choosing your community spot, whether it’s the humble neighbourhood joint or the upscale, bougie salon.
In Montreal, the names that stick out are the ones that have been forward-thinking in their use of space. The gentlemen´s clubs – Notorious MTL, L’Atelier Frank & Oak, Blue Dog Barbershop, Squire Barbering and La Tête Dure – are all brand-conscious shops that bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the tradition of being a barber.
Take Blue Dog, for example. It’s a barbershop by day and a bar at night. A trip there (during the day, at least) is like a trip to the past, complete with old-school tunes on the record player, a bottle of scotch on the counter and barber chairs from the 1950s.
At Frank & Oak’s Atelier, you can get a fresh cut by an expert while sitting on a vintage barber chair in a space shared by Frank & Oak’s clothing store and Cafe Neve, one of the best coffee shops in town.
“When Frank & Oak opened up, I opened up a barbershop inside the shop. It’s called L’Atelier, meaning workshop. It’s three companies creating a space under one roof, in one shop. It’s all about finding the right experience. Here it’s the right coffee, the right clothing brand and the right barbershop,” explains Simon Chercuitte of L’Atelier.
With new ways of imagining spaces, entrepreneurs like Simon have taken old styles of barbering and made them their own. This romanticisation of men´s grooming, etiquette and style means barbershops are on the rise again.
“Movies [and TV shows] had a big role in barbershops coming back. When Inglorious Basterds and Mad Men came out, a lot of people started liking these classic styles. The new kids are bringing back these styles. You go to Mile End and there are barbers on every corner. I totally respect it,” says Daniel Marin of the Blue Dog Barbershop.
While the focus of barbershops is in part about past customs, the true entrepreneurs out there realize it’s also about growth. “The only way for barbers to succeed in this industry is to be involved with fashion,” Chercuitte explains. “People are just going to lose themselves in one style and forget that the movement needs to move forward.”
“I always think back to the good ol’ barber who cut my hair when I was a kid. Coming in and having the good ol’ Italians doing it. Everyone’s chilling. It’s Saturday morning. That sense of the approach is the way barbers are today. It hasn’t changed that much – it’s all about human contact,” Chercuitte says.
A gentlemen’s club about human contact—I know what you’re thinking. But we’re talking about a different kind of interaction: the old-school, good neighbour vibes our fathers and grandfathers sought from the barbershop. So instead of heading to the gentlemen’s club meant for that kind of intimacy this summer, keep it classy and head to your local community barbershop for an experience you can savour in style. The gentlemen’s club is waiting for you…
As it becomes more and more common to pursue traditional means of being well kept, regular trips to the hairdresser are a must in the maintenance of good style. But combing through all the fluff to find the right place for you and your hair can be just as tough as keeping yourself well dressed. It’s about choosing your community spot, whether it’s the humble neighbourhood joint or the upscale, bougie salon.
In Montreal, the names that stick out are the ones that have been forward-thinking in their use of space. The gentlemen´s clubs - Notorious MTL, L’Atelier Frank & Oak, Blue Dog Barbershop, Squire Barbering and La Tête Dure - are all brand-conscious shops that bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the tradition of being a barber.
Take Blue Dog, for example. It’s a barbershop by day and a bar at night. A trip there (during the day, at least) is like a trip to the past, complete with old-school tunes on the record player, a bottle of scotch on the counter and barber chairs from the 1950s.
At Frank & Oak’s Atelier, you can get a fresh cut by an expert while sitting on a vintage barber chair in a space shared by Frank & Oak’s clothing store and Cafe Neve, one of the best coffee shops in town.
“When Frank & Oak opened up, I opened up a barbershop inside the shop. It’s called L’Atelier, meaning workshop. It’s three companies creating a space under one roof, in one shop. It’s all about finding the right experience. Here it’s the right coffee, the right clothing brand and the right barbershop,” explains Simon Chercuitte of L’Atelier.
With new ways of imagining spaces, entrepreneurs like Simon have taken old styles of barbering and made them their own. This romanticisation of men´s grooming, etiquette and style means barbershops are on the rise again.
“Movies [and TV shows] had a big role in barbershops coming back. When Inglorious Basterds and Mad Men came out, a lot of people started liking these classic styles. The new kids are bringing back these styles. You go to Mile End and there are barbers on every corner. I totally respect it,” says Daniel Marin of the Blue Dog Barbershop.
While the focus of barbershops is in part about past customs, the true entrepreneurs out there realize it’s also about growth. “The only way for barbers to succeed in this industry is to be involved with fashion,” Chercuitte explains. “People are just going to lose themselves in one style and forget that the movement needs to move forward.”
“I always think back to the good ol’ barber who cut my hair when I was a kid. Coming in and having the good ol’ Italians doing it. Everyone’s chilling. It’s Saturday morning. That sense of the approach is the way barbers are today. It hasn’t changed that much - it’s all about human contact,” Chercuitte says.
A gentlemen’s club about human contact—I know what you’re thinking. But we’re talking about a different kind of interaction: the old-school, good neighbour vibes our fathers and grandfathers sought from the barbershop. So instead of heading to the gentlemen’s club meant for that kind of intimacy this summer, keep it classy and head to your local community barbershop for an experience you can savour in style. The gentlemen’s club is waiting for you…