British Barbering has had a huge impact on Brazilian barber Tomaz Clayton, here he explains how!

IN A COUPLE OF SENTENCES TELL US WHAT THE BRAZILIAN BARBERSHOP SCENE IS LIKE CURRENTLY?

The professional barbershop scene in Brazil is growing every day. There’s a lot of diversity with the styles we’re offering, but also price differs massively between barbershops. It really depends on the location of the shop. The most popular style at the moment is the fade, but we also love patterns, bold colours and of course classics like the pompadour and flattop. We take a lot of inspiration from British barbershops.

”THE MOST POPULAR STYLE AT THE MOMENT IS THE FADE, BUT WE ALSO LOVE PATTERNS, BOLD COLOURS AND OF COURSE CLASSICS LIKE THE POMPADOUR AND FLATTOP.”

TELL US ABOUT YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE LIONS BARBER COLLECTIVE?

I am the Latin American ambassador which means I spread the message of the Lions and show Brazil the importance of barbers when it comes to mental health. We’re not simply giving people haircuts, we’re improving self-esteem and we’re saving lives. I’ve had an experience in 2020 which led me to realise how vital we are. Sadly a client had lost his job thanks to the pandemic and was thinking of taking his own life. Thankfully, we were able to point him in the direction of services that could offer him support.

HOW HAVE YOU ADAPTED TO LIFE IN THE PANDEMIC?

Although we’re not able to hold in-person workshops in Brazil at the moment, we’ve moved education online. I participated in an online symposium which was broadcast to more than 30 countries. I presented an Afro fade tutorial and talked about the Lions Barber Collective and their initiative Barber Talk.

WHAT DO YOU THINK 2021 WILL HOLD?

I believe that 2021 will be both challenging and promising for Brazilian barbers. In 2020 we learned to value our profession more. All of this has taught us to be more careful and to help our customers. It’s great to be educators but we must never forget our clients. We have to be able to balance shows and events, with running our barbershops.