Cutting Through Boundaries: This Queer Barbershop Welcomes All

When creative Paul Sumayao, co-founder of queer barbershop Barbierro, was in university studying literature, he wrote his thesis on “the space of the bakla.” 

“Hair is something that’s been gendered for a really long time,” he explains. “There’s a barbershop for men and a salon or a parlor for women.” Growing up in Pili, Camarines Sur, Sumayao wondered why every time he went to the barbershop with his siblings, the experience left him feeling uncomfortable. “I think there was a gap for a space where queer people can just freely have haircuts,” he shares.

Fellow creative Jedi Directo, co-founder of Barbierro, adds, “We wanted a space where we didn’t have to ‘code switch,’ where we didn’t have to present ourselves as more masculine.”

In 2022, Barbierro Barbershop, opened its first space in Biñan, Laguna, where Directo is from. Since then, the couple has opened a franchise in Manila, with two company-owned stores coming soon in Quezon City and in Camarines Sur. The lifeblood of Barbierro, however, flows beyond hair. With a visual artist in Directo and a storyteller in Sumayao, Barbierro began and continues to be sustained by the co-founders’ steeping and surging creativity.

Creativity is survival.

Kieran Punay

In addition to running Barbierro, Directo and Sumayao also own Studio Hibang, a boutique creative agency. And in addition to their studio, both immerse themselves in the habit of creating, particularly Directo, who loves juggling multiple hobbies and interests.

“When you create, you have a sense of control,” he explains. “Like when I bake something, I can control how it tastes. When I do my makeup, I can control how severe my eyeliner will be. As a queer person, I like how I can express myself through that.” 

Directo shares how both of them have recently been inspired by a quote from Christian Dior: “For those of us who lived through the chaos of war, creation was survival.” 

“As queer people, in a sea of chaos, creating is really the ultimate way of surviving,” Sumayao says. “For us in the non-binary spectrum, creating helps us make sense of things. It helps us take control of the narrative.”

Come as you are.

Kieran Punay

In Barbierro, that narrative is expressed through the idea that this space exists and it is for everyone. The co-founders have been told that when their male customers have their hair cut, whether they identify as cis or trans, their girlfriends feel comfortable waiting and staying inside the shop. 

This value of inclusivity has spread through word of mouth and through several subreddits, with customers making the effort of traveling down to their pioneering shop in Laguna, even though they live in the Metro. Trans men, in particular, have shared that in Barbierro, barbers don’t ask them what surgeries they’ve had. And when they request to have their long hair cut short, no one tells them, “Sayang naman.” 

“These microaggressions still exist,” Sumayao says, which is why all barbers employed in Barbierro go through a SOGIE training administered by the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Pricing is gender-equal—you won’t find a “men’s cut” or “women’s cut” in their menu of services—and all customers are referred to by the gender-neutral term “boss.”

“But it’s also true that Barbierro is not just for queer people,” shares Directo. “The straights go. Their parents go. We have a lot of people with special needs coming in.” Individuals who have autism or who have hearing disabilities make up some of their regulars. “It’s because they feel like our space understands them,” Sumayao adds.

Looking back to his past growing up in Pili, Sumayao says, “One of the most beautiful things we’re doing right now is holding out spaces for queer kids. When we have this visibility as a business, it gives more leverage for young queer kids to just be themselves.”

Photographer: Kieran Punay. Makeup: Nicole Ceballos. Hair: JA Feliciano.