Episode 3: Open Barbers
Greygory Vass outside Open Barbers
For Episode 3 we had the opportunity to head down to Open Barbers in Hackney, where we spoke with founder Greygory Vass (he/him) on site.
Founded over a decade ago, Open Barbers is a not-for-profit hairdressing service for all lengths, genders and sexualities who offer a queer and trans friendly haircutting experience. We spoke to Greygory, a trans man, about his life, the genesis of Open Barbers, enforced gender roles and community.
Gregory describes his uncomfortable experiences at barbers and hairdressers in the past, with outlets “policing my gender”, and thus him having always to cut his own hair. He also extended haircuts to friends and family, and overtime, a need for an inclusive service for people wanting a haircut became apparent.
In 2011 he and co-founder Klara Vanova (who now runs Barberette, a fellow queer barbers) effectively saw a gap in the market, and went for it. The demand - and need - has continued to grow (pardon the pun), serving the community for over a decade now. In our chat Greygory describes the growth of himself and colleagues as queer and trans people, which has been interlinked with the growth of Open Barbers; with OB and the community learning from each other.
“Just accept that people are varied and diverse and complex, you know, and maybe one day, the hair and beauty industry will have arrived at a realisation that that's a much better way to be in the world.”
As with many of our discussions, accessibility is of absolutely importance, not just on a disability level, but also on a mental health level. A space where making judgements about people is not welcomed.
Open Barbers is a wheelchair accessible space, which is really hard to find in London (again, a common theme in many chats we’ve had), and Greygory discusses how adamant they were to make this happen when their physical space opened in 2016, having existed as a pop-up prior to then. They even had a pop-up at Bar Wotever at RVT, where Grey would cut people’s hair onstage. The physical space, where Open Barbers now exists, was made possible via a Crowdfunder by Greygory and Felix Lane in 2016. Today, Toddy is now one of the Directors of Open Barbers alongside Greygory.
I started out cutting my own hair, because I wasn't able to get a service that I was looking for, from barbers or salons or be turned away from barbers, because they'd be policing my gender.
I'd say that the growth of Open Barbers as a business when completely in parallel with the growth of ourselves as queer and trans people
Open Barbers operate a payment scheme where clients pay what they can afford, existing as a not-for-profit social enterprise. It’s effectively an honesty till with “Pay it forward built into it”; charging as little as £2 for a haircut, with those that have money able to pay substantially more.
From our time there, it really feels like a community space; present are flyers, zines, items knitted by clients on display, and various ephemera (some seen on this page). Not to be too flippant but it really is such a cute vibe.
Grey also discusses the general queer landscape in London and his own relationship with other spaces or projects, raising other issues of accessibility, sober spaces and nightlife. Mentioned are (deep breath): the London LGBTQ Community Centre, The Outside Project, Gendered Intelligence, Fringe Festival, BFI Flare, and Man Up amongst others.
For more information about Open Barbers and to find their prices and book an appointment, visit their website at openbarbers.com. You can also find them on social media @openbarbers. You can also support them on Patreon.
Please do let us know about your favourite queer spaces, collectives, and organisations. Stories on your experiences of LGBTQ+ spaces are very much welcome.
Who should we include in future episodes? tim@queerspaces.uk
