Close cuts with Dolce & Gabbana
On London’s New Bond Street – possibly the street with the highest density of luxury shops in the world – is the three-story Dolce & Gabbana men’s only flagship store. In this space, designed to remarkably resemble an exclusive gentlemen’s club, is a private nook tucked away on the ground floor.
Here, with an entrance framed by a hunter green velvet curtain, is a portrait of Scarlett Johansson all dishevelled and sultry staring down upon three barber’s chairs, handmade in Catania by the Joya family and shipped all the way to London to this, the first (and thus far only) Dolce & Gabbana barber shop.
Headed up Sicilian master barber Carmelo Guastella (who has been cutting hair since he was 11), the idea was to bring to concept of a traditional Sicilian barbiere to life in London. Why London, and not say Milan or Paris? Are the British in dire need of great haircuts? Or is it a testament to the traditional well-groomed image of the British gentleman? Or that London is and remains the world’s financial capital?
Questions to ponder as one sits down in this very masculine environment, all mahogany panelling and marble worktops. Male grooming has been in the ascendance over the last decade and has arguably reached its long-running zenith now, with manicured beards and slick, textured haircuts spotted every other metre outside on New Bond Street. The Dolce & Gabbana barbiere also has fashion’s stamp of approval, given the spotlight in a recent collaboration with Matthew Zorpas, the Gentleman Blogger and arguably one of the leading arbiter’s of men’s style today.
Is that any wonder? The male of the species likes to look impressive; it’s a biological imperative. Which is why, even in this most male of spaces, Scarlett is up there giving every guest a sly wink.
