“I did my apprenticeship in the mid 80s and I had a mullet then, when mullets were a thing with all the pop stars. Now, sport stars are leading the way,” he says.
Josh Carlier/Supplied Despite their mullets getting chopped, the movement seems to be holding steady – even growing. Petrie says the team at Cuba St barbers are re-honing their mullet-making skills to keep up with trends. A mullet isn’t simple, especially in 2021. He says mullets are becoming experimental, and new mullet styles – such as the bob mullet – are popping up. “A mullet is cool, it’s funky, it’s anti-the norm. It’s anti-establishment. It says, ‘yes we can rock long hair, we have the freedom to do express yourself and whatever we want’,” he says.
RNZ
The government s Covid-19 contact tracing app will soon feature Bluetooth technology. It means the app will send users an alert if they have been near another user who tests positive for the virus. In the middle of conversation, Michael Petrie turns to a man who has walked into his barbershop who hasn’t signed in. “Can you scan, bro?” Petrie, director of Cuba Barbers on Wellington’s popular Cuba Street, is conscious that any day, a new, highly-transmissible strain of coronavirus could be announced in the community. He
is making sure his barbershop is doing its part by getting people scanning in on the NZ Covid Tracer app every time they enter, or to sign in on manual sheets if they do not have a smartphone.