Our Story
The story began in 2013 with my cousin Chris. We had worked for a major barber distributor in Southern California, attending trade shows and getting a behind-the-scenes look at the products being sold throughout the industry. When I became a licensed barber, one thing stood out to me: most straight razors were variations of the same basic design and accepted only one type of blade.
As a barber, I preferred different blades for different services, so Chris and I asked a simple question: Why couldn’t one razor securely use multiple blade types while maintaining the same feel and blade exposure? We took the idea to an engineer and spent the next two years developing it. About ten prototypes later, after countless adjustments to the function, weight, balance and ergonomics, the Irving Razor was ready.
Getting there required more than I expected. I was married with two young children and had depleted most of our savings before we sold a single razor. There were plenty of moments when I questioned how far I should take it, but I believed we had created something the industry hadn’t seen before. When our patent was eventually granted, it was validation that all of that work had resulted in something genuinely new.
We launched the Irving Razor in 2015. Our first customer was in New York and told us he had been following the development and waiting a year to buy one. Soon, distributors began reaching out, barbers started using it, and something we hadn’t expected happened, wet-shaving enthusiasts discovered it too. Today, seeing an Irving Razor on the station of a barber or in the hands of a wet shaver I’ve never met is still one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.
The name Irving comes from our grandfather’s middle name. It reminded us of an earlier era of traditional barbering and gave us a way to honor him while connecting the company to the history of the craft. That idea still represents what Irving means to me today: respect where barbering came from while creating better tools for where it’s going.
The razor was only the beginning. We went on to bring our workstation mat to the barber industry, which we now manufacture ourselves in house, along with developing other original products and our latest universal clipper guard project. While we also offer select barber accessories, I believe the products that define Irving need to be created from scratch.
More than a decade of building Irving has taught me patience, how to be comfortable being uncomfortable, and that I don’t need to have every answer before taking the next step. Most importantly, it has taught me to trust my experience and my ideas.
Irving Barber Company started because we saw something missing and decided to create it. More than a decade later, that’s still what drives me. Thank you for being part of the journey.
Ricky Toone
Founder & Owner
Irving Barber Company
