With long hair and a waxed handlebar moustache four years in the making, Antebi, 26, became the youngest, and the first American, to win the imperial moustache title at the championships, held September 1 in Brighton, England. He is also the first Jewish moustache champion in history, a title which, like most competitive beard and moustache categories, has long been dominated by Germans.
He spoke proudly about his newfound celebrity after the biennial event, which was covered by MTV Europe, CBS, the BBC, and Time. "I didn't expect that my facial hair would get me all this press," said Antebi, a fashion entrepreneur and musician who grew up in Bel-Air and who describes himself as a being "stuck in antiquity."
"There was so much goodwill there," he said. "Most of the guys I was competing against [had] moustaches [that] were older than me."
About 200 people crowded into the sold-out spectacle, where Antebi bonded with Günter Rosin, a German multiple-championship winner who would soon become his moustache mentor. Rosin taught him an age-old Bavarian moustache styling secret - beer.
In competitive beard and moustache circles, a world that Antebi describes as "extreme facial flamboyance and dandyism," contestants drink beer with a straw and often avoid eating, to keep their well-groomed moustaches intact. "Eating soup is a nightmare, and the combination of my long hair and moustache also makes kissing difficult at times," says Antebi.
He plans to compete again in two years, when the championships go to Anchorage, Alaska, and he expects to enter the same category. "But you never know. You might catch me in a Hungarian."
Originally published in Los Angeles CityBeat's 2007 best LA issue
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