North Park’s Freshly Faded cultivates healthy culture for men

NORTH PARK – A high school graduation, first date, college graduation, proposal, job interview, wedding day.

These are some of the milestones Derrick Banks has shared with long-term customers who have sat in his chair over the past 20 years.

“These key moments in people’s lives, barbers, especially for Black men, barbers are a part of all those moments,” Banks said while cutting the hair of his childhood friend Jeff Nguyen on Saturday, Aug. 30 inside his barbershop, Freshly Faded Barber + Shop.

It was the first time Nguyen, 40, had gotten a haircut after becoming a father two years ago. He was ready for a big chop that made his shoulder-length hair less tempting to a toddler.

The pair shared stories about family health crises, friends’ new businesses, and not losing themselves trying to become a super dad.

“It feels good. I feel lighter, for sure,” Nguyen said as he left with his wife and son.

That lightness may be both physical and emotional. Nguyen is less weighed down by hair, but to Banks, it’s not about hair at all.

“I could care less about haircuts,” Banks said. “How do you feel when you walk in there? How do you feel when you leave?”

Beyond barbering

In the last 12 years, Freshly Faded has become an element in many people’s stories.

Beyond hair, Banks built a community hub for art, literacy, entrepreneurship and health.

Plants, work from local artists, products from small business owners and books cover every surface beyond the barbers’ stations. A dog greets clients at the door; on Saturday it was Astro with a knotted red rope. Music plays softly. It’s a vibe.

“It’s just a calm, cool space for men to come,” said J. Smith, who was first a client at the shop before stepping behind the chair five years ago when he left the military.

They have also hosted international poetry competitions, monthly heart health screenings from UCSD students, and voter registration drives in the brick-walled building off Utah Street. “Whatever is called for at the time. That’s what we try to provide,” Banks said.

The North Park barbershop opened more than 12 years ago as an unapologetically Black space in a neighborhood quickly gaining widespread popularity — and pricing out people alongside that.

“I just wanted to be a part of almost like, a reverse gentrification,” Banks said.

He opened it in North Park in honor of R. Spot Barber and Books, where he first went to a spoken word night after being invited by his high school basketball coach.

“Growing up in the hood, you don’t have exposure to live music, the arts… That barbershop was my first exposure,” Banks, who was raised in Oak Park, said.

James Richards had to close R. Spot in 2005 after its rent more than doubled. Banks wanted to continue his legacy of a barbershop about more than hair.

Historically, barbershops have often served as social centers for men. Done right, it’s one of the few places men can share their own issues and be real with each other, free to complain about anything,

On its pioneering website, and now its Instagram @freshlyfadedbarber, the shop attracts clients interested in a different type of culture, one that flips the narrative on being vulnerable.

Men’s mental health

Barbers and clients alike partake in frank discussions on mental health in a judgment-free zone. For years, the shop has hosted a men’s mental health group on the first Wednesday of the month.

One recent question the barbers asked one another was the best way to heal from trauma. Even clients who did not participate in the organic discussion may have learned something as multiple perspectives were shared.

“A lot of men, we need help. We don’t have anybody to talk to about the things that we battle. … Nobody asks us how we feel,” said Smith, who is going to school to be a therapist after seeing how he helped people as a barber.

That help came because of the space and barbers Banks curated, who hires people based on personality, not haircut demonstrations.

“Everybody can come in and get disarmed by the dog, disarmed by the plants,” explained Terrell Banks, the owner’s younger brother who has barbered at the shop for six years.

Growing up, he remembered his brother working at a different barber shop with a hyper-masculine, super-competitive culture.

“Where he first used to work was the typical barbershop, you know people smoking weed outside, gambling,” the younger Banks said. “You walk up and you don’t feel comfortable. You’re just like ‘Oh do I gotta put on a bravado?’”

Banks founded Freshly Faded out of necessity to leave that shop. The younger Banks still sees men enter the space chests out and shoulders up. It’s when they start joking around that he knows their defense mechanism of acting tough has dropped.

“Everyone’s welcome; everybody can feel comfortable,” Terrell Banks said.

Bookings can be made at freshlyfaded.com or by calling (619) 314-5279. Walk-ins are welcome. 2850 El Cajon Blvd. Ste 1, Tuesday through Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.