Josh Lamonaca has never measured success by trophies. Yet, being crowned Men’s Hairdresser of the Year 2025 at the British Hairdressing Awards (BHAs) for his DNA Collection marked a defining moment in his career.
For Lamonaca, modern barbering is about much more than traditional cuts, fades and technical precision. It is about creativity, individuality and artistic expression.
As Co-Founder of MENSPIRE Salon and MENSPIRE Academy, his influence extends beyond the salon chair. Through international education, mentoring, editorial collections and competitions, he encourages professionals to approach barbering as a creative discipline rather than simply a trade.
His philosophy is straightforward: a haircut is an expression of identity, and the creative process begins long before the scissors come out.
Where Every Collection Begins
Lamonaca’s creative process doesn’t begin with a trend forecast or a cutting technique. It begins with an emotion.
“Every collection starts with a feeling, an idea, something I’ve been carrying around in my head for months, maybe years,” he says.
Before picking up his tools, he develops mood boards featuring references from:
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- Fashion and photography.
- Architecture and design.
- Textures, movement and colour.
- Art and visual storytelling.
These references become the emotional blueprint for the collection.
Rather than chasing seasonal trends, Lamonaca looks for ideas that evoke a genuine response.
“The story I’m always trying to tell is the same one, really. A haircut isn’t just a haircut. It’s identity. It’s who that person is, or who they’re becoming.”
For him, technical precision is important, but it should never overshadow the person wearing the hairstyle.
His creative benchmark? Making someone stop, look and feel something.
“If it moves you, if it makes you stop scrolling, that’s the job done. A haircut isn’t just a haircut. It’s identity. It’s who that person is, or who they’re becoming.”
Redefining Modern Barbering
For years, barbering and hairdressing have been viewed as separate disciplines.
Traditionally:
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- Barbering: Structure, precision, clean lines and classic masculine aesthetics.
- Hairdressing: Softness, movement, texture and editorial creativity.
Lamonaca challenges this distinction.
“My whole career, I’ve refused to be boxed in. I want the precision, the discipline of barbering, the clean lines, and the structure, married with the softness, the texture, and the movement you get in hairdressing.”
This philosophy is reflected in his award-winning work, where geometric foundations meet natural movement and classic barbering techniques are elevated through contemporary finishes.
“It’s not one technique. It’s that balance. Discipline and nature, always working together, never against each other.”
His approach rests on three creative principles:
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- Discipline: Mastering structure, precision and technical execution.
- Nature: Allowing hair to move and behave authentically.
- Aesthetic: Creating a cohesive visual result that communicates an idea.
As men’s grooming becomes increasingly personalised, Lamonaca believes the professionals best positioned for the future will be those who can draw from both barbering and hairdressing.
The Courage to Create
Behind every award-winning collection is a creative process that rarely goes exactly to plan.
For Lamonaca, the biggest obstacle isn’t technical ability. It is self-doubt.
“Honestly, the biggest challenge is always the same one. It’s not the hair, it’s the doubt.”
One image from his latest collection remains particularly significant. Having previously worked with the model in Amsterdam, Lamonaca spent months refining the concept before flying him from the Netherlands specifically for the shoot.
The image had existed in his imagination long before it became reality.
“It was a liberating moment knowing I could bring something from my imagination to life.”
However, translating a creative vision into a finished look is rarely straightforward.
“You can see something perfectly in your head, and then it fights you when you pick up the scissors or the razor.”
Rather than treating these moments as failures, he sees them as opportunities to refine his work.
“That friction, that’s where the growth is. Every challenge I came up against just sharpened the result, made it more honest. It’s not the hair, it’s the doubt.”
Editorial Work With a Purpose
For Lamonaca, editorial collections are not simply about creating striking photographs. They are also an educational resource.
He believes every collection should offer something to the barber studying it, particularly insight into the thinking behind the finished look.
“Most people only ever see the finished haircut. They don’t see what’s happening on the inside, the thinking, the reasoning behind it.”
Editorial collections, competitions and stage presentations allow professionals to explore:
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- The creative thinking behind a hairstyle.
- How shape, texture and structure work together.
- The relationship between technique and design.
- Different approaches to visual storytelling.
- How an artistic concept can translate into a salon service.
“This kind of work isn’t just for show; it’s education in disguise,” he says.
He also points out that editorial inspiration eventually finds its way into commercial salons.
“What starts on a stage or in a magazine, six months later it’s walking through the door of your local shop because a client’s seen it somewhere and thought, ‘I want that’.”
However, he is equally conscious of the need to make creative work accessible.
“If you only chase the striking image, you lose the barber watching at home who needs something they can use on a Monday morning.”
His philosophy is that every collection should offer two things: inspiration and practical knowledge.
“I always try to give both. Something to look at, and something to learn.”
Beyond the Algorithm: Why Mentorship Matters
Today’s barbers have unprecedented access to online education. Instagram, YouTube and other digital platforms offer an endless stream of demonstrations and technical content.
But Lamonaca believes accessibility does not necessarily translate into understanding.
“There’s so much content out there now, but it’s all 10-or 20-second videos. Swipe to the next one.”
For him, short-form content often provides information without the depth needed to develop genuine understanding.
This realisation inspired the launch of Mentored by MENSPIRE, a mentoring platform founded alongside Chris Foster and Samuel Palmer.
Rather than creating another library of online tutorials, the platform focuses on personalised guidance and professional development.
“What’s missing is real depth, real mentorship, someone who’s walked the path sitting with you and going through it properly.”
The distinction is important. Watching a haircut demonstration is one thing. Understanding why a particular decision was made, receiving feedback and learning to apply those principles independently is another.
“It’s not Netflix. It’s not passive. It’s me and my business partners working directly with people who want to grow, whether that’s their skill, their business, or their confidence behind the chair.”
For aspiring and established professionals alike, the message is clear: learning should go beyond watching and involve questioning, practising and receiving constructive feedback.
Cultivating the Creative Mind
Despite his achievements, Lamonaca’s advice to aspiring barbers is refreshingly uncomplicated.
“Don’t be shy, and don’t wait for permission.”
Having started his career at just 15, he built his reputation through practice, observation and a determination to improve.
“I built it through obsession, through practising on anyone who’d sit in my chair, through studying people I admired and figuring out why their work moved me.”
But he believes technical practice alone cannot sustain creativity.
With busy appointment books and the demands of running a salon, professionals can easily become disconnected from inspiration outside their immediate working environment.
“We get stuck. We don’t make time to be creative.”
His solution is to actively explore other creative disciplines.
“You’ve got to feed your mind before you can create anything worth entering into a competition.”
His recommendations include exploring:
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- Photography: To understand composition, lighting and visual storytelling.
- Fashion: To study silhouettes, trends and individual expression.
- Architecture: To appreciate structure, form and proportion.
- Art and design: To develop a broader visual vocabulary.
For professionals considering competitions for the first time, he offers another important reminder.
“Nobody starts a masterpiece. They start with an idea and they refine it.”
Whether developing a new service menu, photographing a first collection or opening another salon, progress begins with an idea and the willingness to pursue it.
“You’ve got to feed your mind before you can create anything worth entering into a competition.”
The Future of Modern Barbering
Spend time listening to Lamonaca and one message becomes abundantly clear: his success has not been built solely on exceptional haircutting, but on curiosity, creative exploration and a refusal to accept traditional boundaries.
“Barbering deserves the same artistic recognition as every other creative discipline within professional beauty,” he says.
His philosophy reflects a profession that is moving beyond conventional definitions of barbering. Technical excellence remains essential, but the future also demands creativity, adaptability, education and a deeper understanding of individual identity.
For Lamonaca, awards are recognition, not the destination. His real ambition lies in pushing creative boundaries, sharing knowledge and encouraging others to approach their craft differently.
“If you stop the second it gets difficult, you’ll never make anything that’s worth looking at.”
