Extra-long hair is more popular—and possible—than ever
It’s the ‘quiet luxury’ of hair lengths.
While an A-lister debuts a short bob haircut almost daily, another famous face will step out sporting ultra-long hair. Over the last year Gigi Hadid, Priyanka Chopra, Victoria Beckham, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, all recently opted for hairstyles with significant length, elevating a simple aesthetic to high-fashion status.
The trend was cemented with actresses (and Euphoria co-stars) Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney both appearing—separately—at the spring/summer 2024 fashion week shows during Paris Fashion Week, where front-row looks from stars with status comparable to theirs consistently set the trends as much as the designers do.
The latest to join the XXL hair cohort is Demi Moore, regularly seen right now with mermaid waves from Cannes to New York City.
So why the collective urge to go ultra-long? “Extreme length is a type of health and wealth signalling,” Tom Smith, hairstylist and trend forecaster, tells Harper’s Bazaar. “Long hair needs to be healthy to look good, and takes effort to keep glossy. If achieved with extensions, this shows one takes care of their appearance and is willing to invest in it.” Typically, very long hair can be seen with effortless, relaxed waves, and subtle, multi-tonal colours, which all plays into the 'quiet luxury' lifestyle—that of whispering wealth via understated sartorial codes. “Extra-long hair gives off an effortlessly cool vibe, as opposed to short, structured cuts which can come off as more high maintenance.”
How to achieve extra-long hair
Part of the reason extra-long hair is growing in popularity, is because achieving great lengths “is more possible than ever,” adds Smith—mainly “thanks to the advancements in hair repair science”. He is a huge proponent of the use of Olaplex's No.3 Hair Perfector “at least every three washes to minimise the micro breakage that can stop or slow your hair getting longer”.
Bond repair treatments—from brands like Olaplex—are now a staple in salons and at homes. Hairstylist Sharon Landmann, founder of salon Lulu Blonde, explains that they “restore broken bonds and lost elasticity caused by colouring and thermal heat styling, as well as strengthening naturally brittle hair”. For prevention she also recommends fatty lipid moisture treatments such as Philip Kingsley's Elasticizer “for regular use which is essential to maintain softness and shine by sealing the cuticles and retaining moisture in the hair”.
Of course, not all ultra-long hairstyles are home grown, and very often hair extensions are employed to achieve the look. “While many celebrities rely on the use of extensions, the stretched out lengths that we are seeing right now are styled to give an effortless and undone feeling, rather than an uber-glam look,” notes Smith. “This is actually harder to achieve with extensions, as you want to avoid artificial thickness, and so any extensions need to be cleverly cut in a softer and more fluid way so no blunt lines show.”
