Becoming a barber was initially not part of Toufique Behardien’s plan. But Toufique, also known as Toe fade it, now has over 10 years’ experience in the barbering industry. A haircut with Toe fade it will leave you feeling confident… and with a newfound appreciation for graffiti, and hip-hop culture.
“I got arrested at 17,” says Toufique Behardien, who is known for making magic happen when armed with a hair clipper in his hand.
“In high school, I was part of a gang,” he explains. “If you weren’t part of a gang, you were nobody. And if you are nobody, then everybody is going to get something from you.”
The expectation was that he would be sentenced to five to eight years in prison for assaulting a rival gang member. However, he claims that it was an act of self-defence given the nature of gang violence.
Given that the court proceedings would inevitably be delayed, Toufique’s lawyer suggested that he either “go back to school or look for a job”. At the time, getting a job seemed to be a better option, he says. An interview at D&D hair studio in Constantia, landed him a boss who believed in him, says Toufique.
“I don’t want to do ladies’ hair forever; I want to be a barber,” he remembers telling his boss. His boss invested in him and he was able to realise that dream.
“Hip-hop chose me. It’s a way of life that you don’t choose,” says Toufique ‘Toe fade it’ Behardien. “It influences the way you dress, the way you talk, your likes and dislikes,” he says. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Embracing the unexpected
Toufique is now 29-years-old. Looking back to his court hearing 12 years back, he recalls how, at the time, he knew that how he would plead – guilty or not – would determine the trajectory of the rest of his life. “What was going on in my head was that we already took a year and eight months to get to the point of me pleading, that would lead to a trial,” he says. This led to him changing his initial plea of innocence, to one of guilt. “If I chose wrong, I would’ve only gotten out of jail now,” he says.
Toufique reminisces on how he used to do graffiti when he was still in school. “People used to pay me to graffiti their bags […] I was always chasing paper,” he says. He still does graffiti, but none of the graffiti in his barber shop is his own. “I don’t want to put out a platform, [and] then fill it up with my own work. That’s weird.” PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
The magistrate placed Toufique on house arrest for 18 months. He was met with a whole new correctional life, 12 months of which entailed fulfilling community service duties on his off days from work.
“My boss didn’t know, my friends didn’t know,” he says. He describes this period in his life as one filled with extreme paranoia as he constantly felt as though he was being watched. “I could leave the house at 6am to go to work but I had to be back home by 6pm,” he says. “My life entailed no drinking, no smoking, no friends. Nothing. I just pursued my career. Barbering became my passion.”
“If you weren’t part of a gang, you were nobody. And if you are nobody, then everybody is going to get something from you.”
Becoming Toe fade it
The first barber shop he worked at was Barnet Fair on Bree Street. This paved the way for him to work at a new shop, under the same ownership, that opened at The Woodstock Exchange. This was the space where he first intertwined elements of hip-hop culture into his barbering practice.
“I put up A4 pieces of paper with graffiti on them next to my mirror,” he says. The barber shop soon became a social hub where his clients could come to play pool and where rap songs played through the speakers. Some of his current clients have been with him since that time, he says.
The next barber shop he would work at, Yogi’s also in Cape Town, led to him establishing himself as a barber under the brand Toe fade it.
“Toe fade it is me, as a barber, who loves fades,” he explains. A fade is a haircut in which the length of one’s hair on the sides is not cut to one length. Rather, the sides are cut to various lengths which are then ‘faded’ together.
Toufique mentions that the Toe fade it logo was commissioned during a time where his hair was long enough to wear in a man bun. “They used to call me the samurai barber,” he laughs. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Toufique felt the need to differentiate himself from the other five barbers working there. The idea was that when someone came into the shop, Toufique wanted them to specifically request to be cut by Toe fade it. His brand grew within Yogi’s.
“I do my best barbering work when someone comes in and says, ‘just do you’.
“On any given day, you would come in and there would be like six guys waiting for me[…] They wouldn’t go to anyone else,” he says.
In 2019, Toufique Behardien won first place in the best of barbering category at the Photographic competition, which was sponsored by Salon International and Wahl Professional. This competition was judged on a photograph of a haircut. The trophy is a glass recreation of the Wahl 100 Year Anniversary Clipper, which is currently one of Toufique’s favourite hair clippers. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
More than just a barber shop
Toufique vividly remembers seeing an empty warehouse-like structure in a dream he once had. It had white walls and a grey floor with a glass box containing a barber’s chair positioned in the corner, he says.
In 2019, he opened his current barber shop in Observatory, which he says symbolises that dream coming true. “Today we’re standing in a shop. In the corner, there’s a barber shop and the rest is a gallery,” he says. “It all came from this specific [barber] chair that I bought when I was 19-years-old. It was my first investment. I didn’t even have a barber shop yet.”
Toufique still uses the barber chair he bought when he was 19-years-old. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Toufique does not want his clients to have a regular barber shop experience. He wants to introduce them to local rap and graffiti artists, and to make them feel as if they are part of the culture that is happening around them. His space is filled with graffiti and artwork by local artists.
“It’s not just a barber shop. It’s a street art gallery,” he says. “I do my best barbering work when someone comes in and says, ‘just do you’.” He applies this same principle by giving local graffiti artists creative freedom in his space.
Toe fade it in front of one of his favourite art pieces in his street art gallery. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Doing it for the culture
“Barbering taught me proper community,” says Toufique. He explains that the profession has helped him establish a network of people who have seen his journey, where he has come from and how he built up his space.
One of his regular clients, Lloyd Naicker, explains that he has been supporting Toufique as he’s moved around. “It’s the best fade you can get in Cape Town […] I’ll even grow my hair out if I have to,” says Lloyd.
“It’s good to see something of his own, that represents who he is,” says Lloyd, with reference to Toufique’s current barber shop.
Good customer service is important to Toufique. He ensures that when customers walk out of his barber shop, they are able to walk into whichever other commitment they may have directly afterwards, with no traces of hair lingering on their person. “If you’re going to pay for a service, you need to feel the service,” he says. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Toufique says that on average, the perfect haircut would usually take 55 minutes to complete, but clients end up staying for much longer. “Time doesn’t exist through these doors,” he says.
The goal is not to profit from his business, explains Toufique. He strives to uplift people pursuing ventures in fields he is skilled in, including photography, graffiti, music production, and barbering. “If there is growth, then we’re all going to win,” he says.
Ideally, Toufique would’ve pursued a career in music as a DJ and hosted curated underground hip-hop parties. “That’s why I’m giving back to music,” he says. He now hosts events, called Dirty Mic, at his barber shop. At the latest Dirty Mic listening session, he had 15 musicians come in and showcase their work.
“If there is growth, then we’re all going to win.”
Toufique explains that even though he is content with where he is now, he is ultimately tapping into something that he has always wanted to do.
“When I was 17, I needed a place like this. A place where I could come and rehabilitate myself through art,” says Toufique. “But it didn’t exist, I had to create it. If this space existed when I was 17, I think I would be a lot further than where I am now.”