Located in a heritage building with gold-plated tools and cast iron and brass barber’s chairs, Golden Blade epitomises modern vintage. Cityscape talks to owner George Toumazou about mullets, banter, and the secrets of men’s haircare.
What’s the on-trend style?
The old classics are in. Crop cuts especially – a tight skin fade, straight fringing and texturised up top. Mullets are back too. In the last Rugby World Cup there were about four All Blacks on the field with mullets, and now everyone’s into them. Kruiz, one of our barbers, hasn’t cut his in three or four years, it’s halfway down his back.
What about in the beard region?
Beards are very big at the moment, especially after lockdown. The older boys are growing these big lumberjack beards with twisty, curly moustaches. Moustaches alone are a little less common this year than last, but there are still some pretty cool looks out there.
What tip would you give people who have never been to a barber?
Just come in! You’re not alone, barbers have only been popular for the last ten years or so in New Zealand, so we get lots of people who haven’t been to a barber in decades, or who have never been before.
Why the renaissance?
Males are looking after themselves a bit more now. New Zealand tends to follow Australian and European trends, and barbers are especially big in Europe.
What’s your best men’s haircare tip?
Lots of guys wash their hair every day. Don’t do it! It strips your natural oils out, so you start overproducing oils. You only need to wash your hair about every three days; your hair will look healthier and sit better.
What makes you a great barber?
It’s everything from haircut quality to spinning a good yarn. You have to be a people person, you’ve got to love talking shit all day, and working with your hands. I love finding out about people’s lives.
Who’s got the best banter?
Definitely Kruiz. He’s a real hard case.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a barber?
I’d definitely be doing something with my hands. Barbering started as a hobby for me back in high school, but I never thought I’d be able to make it into a career because barber lounges didn’t really exist back then. I went into building and worked as a builder in Christchurch for a while. But the industry eventually blew up, and I realised I could make a living doing my favourite hobby, so I worked around town for a while before starting Golden Blade.
Why did you open Golden Blade?
Christchurch was lacking an upmarket barber lounge – everywhere did the same stuff and sold the same products, and there was no emphasis on the experience. We wanted to offer something more special, so we invested in top-of-the-line equipment, and these amazing chairs, and products that were good for the environment. We stock Triumph & Disaster, which uses native New Zealand ingredients. They’re doing amazingly internationally; they’ve been in Tatler and Men’s Journal and places like that.
Tell us about the chairs.
They’re so unique. They’re cast iron, solid brass and leather. They weigh 110 kilograms each! We’re in this 1890s heritage building that has this amazing history as a barbershop, so we wanted our barber chairs to fit in with that. They’ve got all the modern mechanics, but they’re modelled on proper vintage barber chairs.