Head for heights, not pits
Five of the UK’s most successful male hairdressers hail from Barnsley. Robert Eaton, Josh Wood, Simon Shaw, Chris Moody and Andrew Barton got together to discuss how the town helped to inspire them. Stephanie Smith reports.
It was not an easy journey, being a Barnsley lad who grew in the early 1980s and became a hairdresser. “There were a lot of stereotypes about what you should do,” says Chris Moody. “You probably had to strive that little bit more and work that little bit harder, and perhaps that is what gave you a little bit more drive and focus.”
Might this explain why five of the UK’s most successful male hairdressers are Barnsley boys? Well, in part but, as fellow hairdresser and colourist Josh Wood points out, in the early Eighties, the area had a prosperous economy with many miners earning good money, and a vibrant nightlife scene that called for dressing up and trying new hairstyles.
Chris and Josh were joined by three fellow Barnsley hairdressers, Andrew Barton, Simon Shaw and British Hairdresser of the Year 2021 nominee Robert Eaton, to discuss and celebrate the careers they forged in their home town.
“There were certain pubs where certain people went,” says Chris. “People would stop and look, a bit like that scene from An American Werewolf in London when it goes really quiet and they miss the