Florence, low prices and Italian customers too. The explosion of “ethnic” barbers
reportage
June 26, 2022 – 08:56
Nigerians, Chinese and Maghrebians: boom in foreign hairdressers. “Here you save”
from Jacopo Storni (collaborator Lorenzo Sarra)
Cutting hair is an art, but cutting African hair can sometimes be an even more subtle art. Curly or frizzy African hair is, by its nature, drier than European hair. “Sometimes they are so gnarled that it’s almost impossible to comb them, that’s why I come here to cut my hair, because only here they know how to do it.” Francis is a Nigerian boy, his hairdresser is called Prince, he is 55 years old, he is Nigerian too but he prefers to say that he was born in Biafra: “We want independence from Nigeria”. He is sitting on the sofa in his bare room in via Palazzuolo. There is no sign: 10 euro haircut, 5 euro beard cut.
But why so little? “Because we Africans do not want to get rich, we are content with little », he cuts short. She has a gold ring on her ring finger, a black T-shirt with a white skull, white shorts. Among its customers, almost all are African, but there is no shortage of Italians, at least 20 percent: «They come here because they want to spend little». From the speakers comes sweet music, they are the melodies of the Nigerian church. Not only cut, here we make braids, enlargement, color. Prince arrived in Italy in the 1990s, started working in fitness, then took a course to become a hairdresser and is here today. Together with him, five collaborators, all Africans. He is not the only “ethnic” hairdresser in Florence. In via Palazzuolo there is also Jouvial, a Moroccan hairdresser. There is an employee sprawled on the sofa, the chairs tidy and the mirrors sparkling. Here too, a large part of the clientele is Maghrebi. One employee sweeps the floor, another cuts his hair. A customer comes in and a conversation starts on the sidewalk. Residents do not always look favorably on all of this. Perplexed to the Palomar Committee: «In via Palazzuolo, the relentless proliferation of convenience stores has recently been joined by that of ethnic hairdressers. A business that is perplexing. Our fear is that behind these rounds of rentals there are tricks to make some people work as workers ».
We move to via Panicale, another street where foreign shops proliferate. Among these is African Pride, where pigtails are made, widens, wigs and hair products are sold. The owner is Liana, Nigerian, but speaks bad Italian and we are unable to strike up a conversation. In via dei Ginori since 1993 there is Black Beauty, a real institution, where the owner Terese is Ivorian but she has lived in Florence for over thirty years. “The idea of opening a hairdresser was born when I went to France, where I realized that the African population requires a type of treatment that was lacking.” And so she started doing hair not only for African women, but also for Italian women, who are most of the clients. come to make the braids, or extended them. “They are in fashion.” Terese attended a course in Milan, she does everything by herself: «she’s tiring, but I like her». Not only Africa. Among the foreign hairdressers the Chinese are depopulated. Dozens of those in the city, many Italians who go to them. This also happens in via Il Prato, at Jin Yuan’s. “They arrived in Italy 14 years ago.” A few words, the owner smiles but does not want to speak further: “Beard or hair?”. There are three Italian customers in the salon. “I come here because it’s cheap.” The price list is on the window: «Shampoo + hair set 10 euro, shampoo + men’s haircut 10 euro».
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June 26, 2022 | 08:56
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