Ahmed Alsanawi is a barber in demand.
Alsanawi has cut and styled the hair of numerous footballers, including Paul Pogba, Eden Hazard, Ruben Loftus- Cheek and John Terry.
After emigrating from Iraq in the 2000s, Ahmed and his wife set-up A Star Barbers, initially cutting hair for Chelsea's U23 squad.
His skills saw a call-up to the first team squad, and now Alsanawi and his team trim the heads of numerous footballers across the world.
We picked his brains on his favourite London hotspots, and found out where the 'ballers go to play...
Me
What upcoming project(s) are you most excited about?
Being a part of the global Pepsi advert with Paul Pogba, continuing to expand the A Star brand (barbers, tattoos, coffee & style).
What is your proudest professional accomplishment?
Working with the French national team at the last World Cup finals in 2018 and getting a shout out from the players straight after they won in the final!
If you could change one thing about your career, what would it be?
Nothing, I love what I do which is so important, so it just doesn’t feel like a job to me
What do you hope to achieve that you haven’t yet?
A dream of mine that I want to achieve is having a chain of A Star Barbers around the world
Outside of your family, who is / was your biggest inspiration?
It’s hard to look past my wife and children as they inspire me every day, but my dad is a huge inspiration and has worked so hard all his life. He now works for me, and it’s great to have him as part of the business
Tell us something nobody knows about you…
I was diagnosed with OCD when I was younger. The positives are that it’s helped me be very creative and I’m very inquisitive, and wanting to learn about new things. I can relax!
My London
What do you love most about London?
London has an unbelievable night life, with so many different entertainment options every night of the week. It really blows me away every time I see famous landmarks and the architecture of historical buildings.
What would you change about London?
It has to be the traffic. It’s absolutely awful and so frustrating! Other than having less cars on the road, I’m not sure what the answer is so unfortunately I can’t solve the problem with this answer!
What is your favourite London pub / bar?
Monkey House. It’s great fun, the staff look after you really well and I’ve had quite a few late nights in there!
What is your favourite London restaurant?
Novikov (Asian side of the restaurant) in Mayfair is top of my list. Great atmosphere and first class food
Where would you take someone on a London date?
It really depends on the occasion. My wife and I have spent the day walking around town before and it’s been great but for a really nice date night in town I’d suggest Bagatelle restaurant…very special!
If you’re visiting London, what’s the one thing you MUST do?
That’s so tough to choose one! I’ll base it on what I like to do – it would be a night out having a few drinks, listening to good music with my wife and friends. So I’d say go to Tape nightclub and have fun!
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For more info, see A Star Barbers
