🇮🇹Back to Lucca, Back to BISB

Some cities feel like destinations.

Lucca feels like a return.

For Stijn De Sutter, going back to this walled Tuscan town isn’t tourism – it’s visiting a place that’s become a kind of second home. The narrow streets, the warm light, the way the city moves at its own quiet tempo… and right in the middle of it all, the barbershop that ties it together for him: BISB.

BISB isn’t just a barbershop in Lucca.

It’s a reference point – a place where craft, aesthetics and discipline actually mean something. This time, Stijn went back not just as a friend, but as an ambassador for ROMAIN – to connect, to learn and to document.

At the centre of it stands Andrea Cottone.

A left-handed Italian barber with a calm presence and a razor that does most of the talking. Years of work have shaped his hand and eye: every movement measured, every detail in place, every service balanced between elegance and control.

Stijn didn’t come just to say hello.

He came to sit down with Andrea and dig into the things that don’t fit in a caption: why keep fighting for a traditional, disciplined way of barbering when there’s an easier, faster, more commercial path available? Why insist on legacy, ritual and meticulous work when the world keeps asking for “quick and cheap”?

Those conversations became the backbone of an interview – a way to document Andrea’s way of thinking about shaving, barbering and responsibility. Especially as someone who runs his own academy and works daily in Lucca, shaping the next generation. Andrea’s left-handed work is part of why this matters: left-handed barbers often get written out of the straight razor story. Andrea proves they not only belong in it – they elevate it. His technique, posture and razor angles are a masterclass in how to make precision look effortless.

Then came the moment where Lucca turned into a meeting point.

From Spain, Luis López and Gabriel Cifuentes Ortuño joined the mix. Suddenly, this wasn’t just one visit – it was a small council of barbers: Belgian, Italian and Spanish, sitting at the same table, trading stories and steel.

Luis brings another thread into the tapestry: a strong connection to the Japanese kamisori. Where Andrea embodies the finesse of Italian barbering and the discipline of classic Western shaving, Luis carries that sharp, focused Japanese edge into the room – both literally and figuratively. Kamisori, hard English soaps, Italian calm, Spanish energy, Belgian obsession: on paper, it sounds chaotic. In reality, it fits.

They didn’t just shake hands and pose for photos.

They talked. Deep, long, wide. About their own paths, their failures, their shops, their academies. About the old guards who held the craft tight but often refused to move with the times. About the new generation, full of energy and access to everything except patience. About how to keep the good parts of the past alive without turning into a museum.

Their tools became a shared language:

open razors, kamisori, hard English soaps, Italian products, hygiene protocols, service rituals. They showed each other small tricks – a grip here, a stroke pattern there, a different way of approaching the neckline, another way of explaining things to students so it actually sticks. Tips and tricks, yes, but always with something heavier underneath: a sense of responsibility.

Because that’s what this really was about:

legacy.

Not in the ego sense – not “my name will live forever” – but in the simple, honest idea that barbering should be better after you than it was before you. That students should inherit more than Instagram poses and quick fades. That the next generation should have access to real technique, real structure, real standards.

Step by step, that’s what they were building in Lucca.

No big speeches, no grand declarations. Just a group of barbers with good intentions, each trying in their own way to carry the flame forward:

Andrea, running BISB and showing that organisation, hygiene and calm can be a style in themselves.

Luis, bridging European barbering with Japanese kamisori tradition.

Gabriel, bringing his own Spanish flavour and precision into the mix.

Stijn, connecting these worlds back to Ghent and ROMAIN, determined to weave all of it into something usable for students and clients alike.

Slowly, you could feel the collaboration getting tighter.

Not just “we know each other” – but “we are building something together,” across borders, across languages, across styles. A loose but very real alliance of barbers who believe that tradition and innovation don’t have to fight each other.

And as always with Andrea and the BISB team, the welcome was exactly what you’d hope for: warm, open, full of genuine affection. Stijn has already spent a month working inside BISB, he knows the shop, the rhythm, the faces. Coming back felt less like visiting and more like walking into a room where your chair is still waiting for you.

If you want the full story – the looks, the words, the razors, the atmosphere –

you’ll find it in the interview with Andrea and the footage from Lucca on Stijn’s YouTube channel. It’s more than content. It’s a small piece of what might one day be called the legacy of this generation of barbers.

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If you want more than just a good story and you’re ready to sharpen your craft or your own look, you know where to find us.
From straight razor training and honing on natural stone to classic shaves and serious beard work in the chair, ROMAIN Barbershop & Academy in Ghent is where it actually happens – not just where people talk about it.

Want to book a service?
https://booking.optios.net/6064/select-location

Want to follow the journey?
ROMAIN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romain_ghent
Stijn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desutter_stijn
Stijn on YouTube (more adventures, more razors, more stories): https://www.youtube.com/@desutter_stijn

For Academy info, courses or questions, send an email to info@romaighent.be – and we’ll take it from there.