30 Man cave
A Cut Above
the Rest
When award-winning barber
Peleti Oli has a client in his chair,
he has the power to determine more
than just the rest of their day.
He has a mission which extends beyond the
blade, one to promote his barbershop, Somehz
Touch Barbers in Hastings, as a ‘safe place’ for all
who enter.
“You have a bit of power to influence people who
sit in your chair. It is a good tool and that’s why I
want to use it to make the world a better place;
one haircut at a time,”
Peleti says.
“We try to create an atmosphere where men feel
safe, that’s the environment we encourage. If we
can be vulnerable it invites them to see that ‘hey,
I’m not alone’,” he says.
Peleti and his team specialise in hair art,
fades, cut throat shaves and beard shaping
and reshaping, and this month he is visiting
Marlborough salon Cutz on Weld to share some
of his skills.
“I like to get creative in doing a lot of designs;
especially for the kids that come in and want a
Batman or a Superman on their head, that’s what
I specialise in,” he says.
Despite two other barber shops on his block,
business is booming for Peleti, who operates a
bookings-only policy, and has five other barbers
working to keep up with demand.
For the past three years he has claimed the top
spot in the creative category at New Zealand’s
ultimate barbering and men’s grooming event,
BarberCraft.
Peleti has had no formal training for his career,
one which very nearly didn’t happen.
“I first started barbering in high school,
when my late friend John taught me how to do
a haircut.
“It’s quite a tradition where you learn the skill
and then just do haircuts from your garage, so
I was doing haircuts for free for a very long
time; I was never short of guinea pigs,”
Peleti says.
For many years, cutting hair was a
hobby, something he used to do
when somebody needed a haircut,
and a skill he shared with his
late brother Someh, who in turn
taught him the art of barbering.
Sadly, Peleti later lost his
brother to suicide,
something he originally
thought would end
his barbering career.
“Just before the
family service, all
my cousins and Someh’s friends lined up in the
garage wanting to get hair cuts. I said ‘hey, I’m
struggling to keep it together, I’m mourning the
loss of my brother’, I thought that would be the
last time I cut hair,” he says.
“But as soon as I started doing the first haircut
I felt peaceful, I call it my solace, my place of
peace.” Peleti soon realised he could utilise his
skill to better his own life, and to reach out to
others.
“Losing my brother was a bit of a wakeup call
for myself. I was really just going in and out of
jobs, moving from the Hawkes Bay to Auckland
to Australia, and not really picking a real path in
my life.
“I decided to take barbering and give it a go, so to
speak, to take it a little more seriously, so I found
the opportunity to work in a shop and that’s
where it began,” Peleti says.
Unlike many ‘men-only’ barber shops,
Peleti welcomes both men and women into his
shop, and he uses the space to help them not only
with grooming upkeep, but also as
a place to talk.
His work also sees him speak at suicide prevention
workshops and share his barbering skills with
troubled youth in the hope that he will help them
to discover their own passion.
“As I lost my brother and my friend John to
suicide, it became my journey to raise awareness
for suicide and help the youth … continuing [their]
journey, that’s my inspiration and motivation.”
Peleti looks forward to sharing his hair cutting
knowledge with the team at Cutz on Weld, and
says there are a few things men can do to ensure
they’re happy with their cut.
“My tips for men would be just to research.
It really comes down to the shape of a person’s
face … identify what face shape they have and
identify some styles that would best suit their
head.”
Listening to the barber is also key for maintaining
the hairstyle long term,
Peleti says.
“When you style the hair, as soon as they leave
the barbershop it’s probably going to
be the last time it’s going to look like that.
“My advice for the customer is before they leave
the barbershop, to ask the barber how they
achieved that style,” he says.
The team at Cutz On Weld will be inspired after
Peleti’s training, be sure to book in to benefit from
his skills and experience.