12 Pell is Young, Asian and Cool
Full video of @Hairdoc
12Pell Is the MSG of Barbershops
https://www.easternstandardtimes.com/episode/docs-12pell
12Pell says they’re the Madison Square Garden of barber shops. What they mean is when certain folk come through New York City, they don’t leave without visiting. The barbershop is always packed, and there’s a few reasons why:barbers combine Japanese style precise scissor work with the sharp shaves of Dominican barbershop, layered on top of K hair techniques. They are one of a kind, and their audience of nearly 2 million followers on TikTok and 300,000+ on Instagram has made them some of the most sought after barbers of our generation. Customers book months in advance for a slot, with prices starting at $150+ for a trim.
But 12Pell is important not just because of the popularity. . During the COVID-19 pandemic when Chinatown became a 'ghost town', the store rarely got any customers. 12Pell translated this downtime into community-driven initiatives, offering free haircuts when customers spent $45 dollars at any Chinatown store, and investing in their TikTok community. Soon, 12Pell had things up and running again for the entire neighborhood, including themselves.
The barbershop cares beyond just the business of hair – they show up for the Asian American community by creating a space for young Asian men to feel a sense of belonging.
12Pell Is the MSG of Barbershops
https://www.easternstandardtimes.com/episode/docs-12pell
12Pell says they’re the Madison Square Garden of barber shops. What they mean is when certain folk come through New York City, they don’t leave without visiting. The barbershop is always packed, and there’s a few reasons why:barbers combine Japanese style precise scissor work with the sharp shaves of Dominican barbershop, layered on top of K hair techniques. They are one of a kind, and their audience of nearly 2 million followers on TikTok and 300,000+ on Instagram has made them some of the most sought after barbers of our generation. Customers book months in advance for a slot, with prices starting at $150+ for a trim.
But 12Pell is important not just because of the popularity. . During the COVID-19 pandemic when Chinatown became a 'ghost town', the store rarely got any customers. 12Pell translated this downtime into community-driven initiatives, offering free haircuts when customers spent $45 dollars at any Chinatown store, and investing in their TikTok community. Soon, 12Pell had things up and running again for the entire neighborhood, including themselves.
The barbershop cares beyond just the business of hair – they show up for the Asian American community by creating a space for young Asian men to feel a sense of belonging.
Transcript
00:00 From day one, I always told myself, you know what,
00:02 we're Madison Square Garden of barbershops.
00:05 $1,000 shears, that's one, two, three, and four chairs.
00:08 These are Belmonts, Terracotta.
00:09 They were on like two, 3,000 each.
00:11 I'm Conor Leung.
00:12 I'm one of the founders of 12Pal.
00:14 Have 1.7 million on TikTok, 210 subscribers on YouTube,
00:18 and we have about 265 on Instagram.
00:21 We all want to elevate into the space
00:23 where it's mainly scissor work combined with clipper work.
00:25 And fusing the two techniques pretty much gives you
00:28 like a very tailored outcome.
00:30 And I always like to say that like foundationally,
00:32 there's a cap to what you can learn with barbering,
00:34 but after that, it's how you kind of elevate
00:37 and making like a hairstyle your unique style.
00:39 I think we've been able to create a lot
00:42 of representation for us,
00:43 like for a lot of Asian barbers in the industry,
00:46 and also create a lot of inspiration
00:47 for the young kid out there who's thinking
00:49 about doing something on the creative side.
00:51 And yeah, I'm pretty proud of that.
00:54 (upbeat music)