The Tamesisdid your Will hair move a lot in 2025? Mine certainly didn’t.
In 2026, I will change that. I want my hair to bounce to the beat on the dance floor again, even if it’s just a “champagne flute” shaped wavy bangs swinging in front of my eyes. In the morning after a long bob era, I slathered my hair in icy gel and styled it into a slicked-back, sculpted bun—I was letting my hair down. Recent shows are leading my inspiration.
Just this month, at Matthieu Blazy’s first Chanel Metiers d’art show held at Bowery Station in New York, hairstylist Duffy designed elastic side hair accessories, followed closely by Chanel’s haute couture styling. Jonathan Anderson channeled a sense of beauty at his first Dior womenswear show in October, with Guido Palau fluffing up the models’ natural textures, not unlike the windswept waves and Pre-Raphaelite curls the hairstylist created for Veronica Leoni’s Calvin Klein debut in September. It’s a 180° turn from the buns we’ve seen in seasons past where every hair was brushed into place with a toothbrush.
Photography: Acielle/Style Du Monde
Photo: Armando Grillo/Gorunway.com
“We just cleaned up all the hair—we took it all away, so now I think we’re craving a messy feeling, a feeling of being a little bit out of control,” says Emmy-nominated hairstylist Sarah Hindsgaul. stranger things Does anyone know how to create a neck-up character transformation (just ask Joe Keery).
Hindsgaul believes that there is a level of perfection in a smooth back that can make a highly-surveilled life feel safe. “The bun is a great touch because it’s kind of like, don’t fuck me,” she notes, adding that when it comes to pinning her hair in place on set, she feels like it’s “a sign of a bad guy because I feel like it’s so weird and inhumane.” Now, in a world increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence, we’re approaching a moment where people want to express their humanity in new ways. “I think it’s really important to have hair that can adapt to different identities and allow you to play the role you want to play in 2026, rather than just locking yourself into an algorithm,” says hairstylist and celebrity-favorite Benjamin Mohapi, founder of Benjamin Salon, which just opened a new location in Manhattan’s NoLita neighborhood. He noted that imperfection and movement make us human, and now “we need to separate ourselves from machines.”
But, I’m stressed out – when I’m no longer getting every thread in place, there’s always a greater chance of something going wrong on my way out the door. “The concept of a bad haircut shouldn’t exist at all,” Mohapi declared. “It’s like, this is a hair sky. Hinzgauer agrees. “It’s a risk, you’re really exposing yourself, and I think everyone is insecure about their hair.” They were like, Oh my hair is getting frizzy” she shared. “The things that bother you are the things that are really, really beautiful. That’s what gives you all that extra texture; it gives you an aura. “She likes things that are close to being tame. “You can’t really control hair, you have to love it because it’s its own little monster,” she laughs, comparing makeup artists to “dog people” and hairstylists to “cat people” because with the latter, “you just don’t know what you’re going to get in the morning—I love how wild they are.” “
The prediction for 2026 that everyone seems to agree on is unleashing your innate (and gently enhancing!) texture and replacing your hands with precision tools. “I think we’re going to see more people wearing their hair in loose, free-flowing, bouncy or curly bob and bob styles, but more often than not,” says Hair Rituel of Jawara, editorial hairstylist and Sisley International brand ambassador. When I explained that I was still a “hair-up” person and just wanted a little more swing, he told me, “A good way to get a little more movement in the updo is to use your fingers to be a little looser, rather than too tight and tense,” Jawara explains. Then, let your clean-girl workout fade away: “I always like to mess it up a little—pull out a few pieces, then secure the tighter pieces with a bit of invisible hold hairspray,” he says. “This always seems to work well for me.” For fine hair like mine, Mohapi recommends “texturing first and then doing everything else,” and likes to use Isles Formula Curl Revive Haute Performance Spray and Salty Texture Spray to enhance all hair textures, then shape the rest of the hair with crease-free cap clips (before the styling clip boom, he used to make his own clips out of playing cards or pieces of felt). “Don’t comb it into place. Don’t brush it. You can still try to make it as perfect as possible, but get rid of the tools so you can just use your hands.”
