A Day with Hugo: Melbourne's First Sonder Barber

6:15am. Hugo's alarm goes off in his Prahran apartment, three blocks from the studio. He has been doing this for six months now — the Melbourne routine is set.

6:45am. Coffee at a local spot on Chapel Street. Long black, no sugar. He scrolls his bookings for the day — twelve cuts, two beard sculpts, one colour consultation.

7:30am. Studio. Lights on, music on (today it is Khruangbin), stations checked. Every tool in its place. Every surface clean.

8:00am. First client. A regular — fortnightly skin fade, no conversation needed beyond the usual check-in. This is the rhythm Hugo loves.

The day moves in forty-minute blocks. Each cut a world unto itself — different head, different hair, different goal. By 6pm, twelve men have left sharper than they arrived.

6:30pm. Cleanup. Tools sterilised, floor swept, tomorrow's bookings reviewed. Hugo locks up, walks home past the same coffee shop, now closed. Tomorrow, again.