Masami Hosono wanted a place where people could get a haircut. Not a girl haircut, or a boy haircut, just a haircut. Sounds simple right? But her simple idea turned heads when she posted it online.
“Starting April, I am equalizing women and men’s haircut,” wrote Hosono on her Instagram page. “I always wondered why we separate our hairstyles based on gender? It’s really diverse in a spectrum of preference! Many of my clients also identify gender neutral or transgender so… the aim is a gender-neutral salon. Cheers!”
Her post didn’t go unnoticed. In fact, it was shared so many times that she’s turned into a hair stylist sensation overnight. Tagged as the Vacancy Project, her NYC salon caters to all people from all genders.
“I didn’t really care whether or not I had my own hair salon but I had a lot of creative people, clients, and friends, and I just realized that a lot of hair salons divide by gender, and I wanted to do a gender-neutral hair salon,” explained the hair stylist in an interview with i-D Magazine. “I think [everywhere] will be all gender-neutral in the future,” she went on saying.
To Hosono and her colleagues, Ann Causey, and Genevieve Cook, the most important thing is to match the haircut to the person in front of them – working to reflect your inner style.
“I don’t want to give someone a hairstyle just because it’s trendy,” Hosono explained. Sounds kinda trendy to us.
