Oran Lasocki works as a barber at Ruffians and is a former London School of Barbering student. He took time out of his schedule to come down to London School of Barbering to judge our fade competition on Friday 1st December, which was our second last competition day of 2017! It has been truly amazing to see so much fresh, new talent emerge from our barbering courses at our school this year – all of the team at LSB are so proud.
It is so great to see so many students choosing to train at London School of Barbering to progress their barber career or even start their journey on to a barber career. The students gave it their all the in fade competition and the guys hairstyles they executed were top class with the sharpest details. Producing a haircut to a high standard under an hour is a credit to all of our students. We spoke to Oran on the barbering industry right now and his experience at London School of Barbering as a student. Read his exclusive interview below:
LSB: What is your name and where do you work?
OL: My name is Oran and I’m a barber at Ruffians barbers in Marylebone. I’ve been barbering 3 years now, so almost to the day I graduated from LSB.
LSB: What’s your take on the barbering industry at the moment?
OL: It’s trying to take a step back from the unnecessary sort of social media that was pushed upon us in like 2014/2015. I’ve stepped back away from that and I find myself sort of putting way more time into the actual graft and the sort of craft of what we do and into the clients. And for me I find that it’s actually made me a better barber, because you know at the end of the day people are coming to you for a better haircut. The partnership and relationship between a client and barber – I think that for me is where it is.
LSB: What do London’s people and culture bring to your profession?
OL: London life is so fantastic because it’s so cultural. You’ve got so many different people and you’re never going to be stuck as a person with one particular haircut or a fashion. It’s so diverse, you know you can get on with anyone. It is the centre of everything, you go anywhere in Europe and they’ll be like London is the place to be right at this moment for barbering.
LSB: What did LSB give to you?
OL: London School of Barbering; before I came here I couldn’t speak to a stranger, putting you behind the chair with a complete stranger with them trusting you is like shoving you into shark-infested waters and you just have to get on with it. And that’s the sort of thing you need, you need constructive criticism, but also the brutal honesty. I feel that’s made me better as a person, as a barber and just you know all round it’s helped me progress personally.
LSB: What did it feel like to be a judge today at LSB?
OL: So today I came to London School of Barbering to judge the NVQ level 2 fade competition and overall haircut. I always wanted to come back to London School of Barbering at some point, even if it was just socially, which I have done in the past when they had the just the original Jury Lane venue. I’ve never been at this London School of Barbering venue before, but being at Jury Lane, I think it would bring that nostalgia back. It’s quite good today that I wasn’t probably crying.
LSB: What did you think about the quality of the cuts you saw today at LSB?
OL: The quality of the cut is actually, is generally making me worried about my job. Every single standard today was top-notch and I think they all should be exceptionally proud of what they’ve achieved.
LSB: How’s the future looking for barbering?
OL: The future for barbering I think, it’s scary to think because I think it is going to be just getting better and better. There’s more shows, there’s more sort of acceptance to what we do, the lifestyle, people getting tattoos, what they do with their hair….. and I think it’s no matter what we do or anyone else does; hairdressing, barbering, tattooing, anything that is a craft like this is just going to progress. And I think barbering is just good to excel and just get to that potential that is outstanding!
If you are thinking of learning the trade or see your future in barbering, take a look at our barbering courses page to find the right course to help you achieve your barber goals.
