Antica Barbieria Colla is the "top” barbershop in Milan, Italy, according to its illustrious owner, Franco Bompieri. They’re famous for keeping to the traditional way of hairstyling — namely, that they use fire in order to burn the ends of their customers’ hair.
"[By] burning the ends, the hair evolves. It becomes bigger, the hair gets stronger and doesn't fall out anymore," Bompieri says, and it's hard to contradict him when he has 73 years of industry experience backing his claims up. "A lot of people lose their hair because the barbers don't know how to […] burn the ends." It makes you wonder whether the widespread issue of hair loss could have been avoided by using this simple trick!
From the enormous hairstyles of the ‘60s to the reclaimed braids of today, hair has — and will always be — an important reflection of the times, though it wasn’t always so for the stylists themselves.
"At one time, the barber was someone really important," Bompieri says. "I lived in a different world. We had to do well, and doing it well meant being good."
Sometimes, time-honored traditions are still used precisely because they work so well. I’m very glad that people like Bompieri work to keep their businesses open, and ultimately continue passing down their secrets of the trade.
Please SHARE if you were also inspired by this video!
Cutting Hair with Fire: The Last of the Milanese Barbers from Great Big Story on Vimeo.
