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Montreal businessman Corey Shapiro bought some flakes of gold one night to garnish his sushi for extra flavour — and then he had an idea.

Instead of eating the gold, Shapiro thought, why not infuse it into shaving cream?

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“We wanted something that was a little more ostentatious and memorable than any other barbershop in the world,” Shapiro said during an interview inside the Notorious men’s salon he co-owns in Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood.

“Ostentatious” can be applied to most things Corey Shapiro, whose name and look have become iconic — yet controversial — in a city hesitant to celebrate conspicuous consumption.

“We called the barbershop Notorious because anything that me and my business partner do — we’re rather notorious with going all the way,” Shapiro said.

His partner is Patrick (P-Thugg) Gemayel, one half of the electro-funk duo Chromeo, and together the two men are part of the transformation of Saint-Henri from a neglected neighbourhood in the shadows of downtown skyscrapers to a district of choice for shoppers and foodies.