Razor sharp: female barbers cut it with Hong Kong celebrities in shop that oozes retro cool
- High fade, low fade, keep it high, keep it below the ear – Cherry Chung, Lily Zhai and Pinky Wallace know the cuts at Handsome Factory Barber Shop in Wan Chai
- They’re drawing an in crowd, from actors Philip Keung and Shawn Yue to boxer Rex Tso, and in contrast to women barbers in America they haven’t faced sexism
Walking around the Wan Chai branch of the Handsome Factory Barber Shop (other outlets are in Causeway Bay, Central and Tsim Sha Tsui) is like stepping into a 1950s barber shop, the space oozing a retro feel right down to the enamel mugs, black and white chequered tiles and bright red Smeg fridge filled with bottles of Coke.
What you wouldn’t have found in the 1950s, however, are female barbers such as Cherry Chung, Lily Zhai and Pinky Wallace, who all work at the uber-cool shop.
“When a customer sees that the name of his barber is Cherry or Pinky, then he’s going to know it’s a female,” says Annie Lee, marketing manager of the Handsome Factory Barber Shop.
Lee says sexism is an issue for female barbers in the United States. “Luckily it’s not a big deal here,” she says of Hong Kong.
“In North America I’ve heard comments like ‘Can you even cut’ or ‘I thought barber shops were for men’. It’s quite shocking seeing that these are contemporary barber shops aimed at the young, who employ women tattooed from head to toe, and [who] are super skilled at handling a razor.”
