Photo by Zach Maiorana
Columbus Coiffeur
Longtime barber backs up showmanship with craftsmanship
Master Shavers of Studio 997 is John Bowman.
That is, Bowman is the only “master shaver” in the studio, and he always has been.
“I don’t want the noise of having so many people in there,” Bowman says. “I want it to be elegant. I want it to be just me.”
Located in the expansive attachment behind Bowman’s Grandview Heights home, Studio 997 has been a local landmark for fastidiously trimmed men for almost 20 years. But the stylist behind the operation has been grooming clients for just under half of a century.
After completing barber college in 1969, Bowman began his career at the Gentleman’s Quarters Barber Salon in the Neil House Hotel in downtown Columbus.
Neil House is where Bowman began establishing connections with the dedicated clients and fellow barbers he still associates with today.
Bowman isn’t shy about expressing pride for his work.
“You go into barber shops, and they’ll give you a prim haircut,” he says. “But they don’t solve problems that people have. If you solve problems for a person’s haircut, then you’ve got a customer for life.”
But Bowman’s pride isn’t just grandstanding; he has the resume to back it up. Between him and his brothers, Mike and Tom, they have trained four professional teams to participate in national men’s hairstyling competitions.
The three brothers operated Penthouse Hair Design, a small chain that began as a shop near Grandview, then expanded to a Dublin location. After 24 years in the family business, though, Bowman chose to become an independent stylist. Mike and Tom now operate Bowman Brothers Hair Design in northwest Columbus.
John never stopped honing his craft. He has worked with prominent stylist Jeffrey Paul in Cleveland, studied with Paul Mitchell in New York, and observed and studied with the London-based salon and beauty merchandiser Truefit and Hill in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
“My shave is the same shave that Prince Charles gets,” Bowman says.
Bowman has also worked with artists from all over Europe, including stylists from Belgium, France and Germany.
In addition to cutting hair and shaving, Bowman has also learned to perform professional-quality facial massages using 200 million-year-old Jurassic clay from Australia.
On top of individual services, Studio 997 also offers shaving parties for up to nine people in the garden outside the shop.
Bowman’s most significant marker of his success is the passionate way he approaches his work.
“There is one major thing that separates a tradesperson from a professional barber,” Bowman says. “If you’re just going to a job every day, it’s a trade. But if you practice it as an art form and you look at it like you want to give the very finest service you can, well then that’s what separates what I do from the average Joe in a barber shop.”
Zach Maiorana is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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