'I'm really excited to look like my dad': How oyster gray hair got hot
When 2022 trend setter Julia Fox attended the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards earlier this month, for once it's not the dress barely there that made headlines. Instead, it's her hair, which was dyed an unmistakable shade of oyster gray.
Fox commented on the look at the event. "It's a love letter to growing old," she said. The actor and model is 32 years old.
Fox isn't the only young woman to adopt this hair color. Ariana Grande experimented with the ombre in 2018 when she was 27, while Zosia Mamet (34), Jade Thirlwall (29) and Winnie Harlow (28) were also seen sporting the gray look. Men have also gotten involved, with American defender Sergiño Dest sporting oyster gray hair in Qatar at this year's World Cup.
"I think the term 'grey hair' always conjures up aging," says Jacqueline Kilikita, associate beauty director at Refinery29. "But words like 'oyster', 'pearl blonde' etc. take what is essentially gray hair and give it a new buzzy name. Maybe those names make gray hair cooler or more accepted."
It's a trend that's taking off beyond celebrities - in particular, as Kilikita says, in this oyster gray (sometimes also called silver gray). The #silvergreyhair hashtag has 1.9 million views on TikTok – with much of the content skewed towards young creators. Salons such as Rush, Blue Tit and Bleach are also reporting an increase in color requests.
Why younger generations are embracing hair color so associated with age ? The contrast between a youthful face and gray hair could be seen as a visual stunt or a bit of humility - or it could be that they aim to "speed up" the aging process so that it's less noticeable later on. Or - perhaps - we could actually be at the start of a shift in societal norms around gray hair symbolism.
"As winter is fast approaching , the trend will become even more popular," predicts Rush Art Team Member Seung Ki Baek. "We started noticing this trend during the summer season, but as the weather gets colder, many of us look to refresh their hair color."
When 2022 trend setter Julia Fox attended the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards earlier this month, for once it's not the dress barely there that made headlines. Instead, it's her hair, which was dyed an unmistakable shade of oyster gray.
Fox commented on the look at the event. "It's a love letter to growing old," she said. The actor and model is 32 years old.
Fox isn't the only young woman to adopt this hair color. Ariana Grande experimented with the ombre in 2018 when she was 27, while Zosia Mamet (34), Jade Thirlwall (29) and Winnie Harlow (28) were also seen sporting the gray look. Men have also gotten involved, with American defender Sergiño Dest sporting oyster gray hair in Qatar at this year's World Cup.
"I think the term 'grey hair' always conjures up aging," says Jacqueline Kilikita, associate beauty director at Refinery29. "But words like 'oyster', 'pearl blonde' etc. take what is essentially gray hair and give it a new buzzy name. Maybe those names make gray hair cooler or more accepted."
It's a trend that's taking off beyond celebrities - in particular, as Kilikita says, in this oyster gray (sometimes also called silver gray). The #silvergreyhair hashtag has 1.9 million views on TikTok – with much of the content skewed towards young creators. Salons such as Rush, Blue Tit and Bleach are also reporting an increase in color requests.
Why younger generations are embracing hair color so associated with age ? The contrast between a youthful face and gray hair could be seen as a visual stunt or a bit of humility - or it could be that they aim to "speed up" the aging process so that it's less noticeable later on. Or - perhaps - we could actually be at the start of a shift in societal norms around gray hair symbolism.
"As winter is fast approaching , the trend will become even more popular," predicts Rush Art Team Member Seung Ki Baek. "We started noticing this trend during the summer season, but as the weather gets colder, many of us look to refresh their hair color."
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