If you see a young man with a messy bun moving like a windbreaker, it’s probably a hairstyle called a “wolf cut.” This “do” is recognized for its voluminous crown, which quickly sinks into heavy layers, and is the latest Gen Z beauty trend to take to social media. Popular among the sexes, the wolf cut originated in South Korean salons, taking its name from the wild and untamed aspect created by the heavy layers, which resemble the skin of its namesake. To take things further, styles are often set on hair with free perms, to ensure a messy look.
Google searches for ruffled hairstyles have increased 100% since 2020, and Pinterest has also seen an 88% increase in the term this year as more and more teens search for the perfect wolf cut. Check out the Digital Mod Board site for that. On Instagram, hairdressers share bright photos in the client’s studio with more professional versions of the style. Meanwhile, TikTok is full of youngsters trying out the DIY trend at home.
A wolf’s eagerness to bite can often manifest itself in the wee hours of the morning: “DIY wolf bites at 2am” reads the title of a YouTube blog. While the most discerning or affluent young people will book into the lounge, many are content to use kitchen shears or a hand knife while looking in the bathroom mirror and handle the chopping themselves.
Later on YouTube, young people flick their hair forward to place a unicorn-style ponytail at the hairline and gleefully chop it off – and it seems the majority are happy with the result. Most of the 80.7 million TikTok videos associated with the hashtag #wolfcut are success stories, subtitled with the catchy stock phrase “This is your cue to cut the wolf.” Part of the style’s popularity may be due to the fact that it requires cut layers, which allows for many variations and can be experimented with with different grades of scissors.
Wolf cuts are the latest iteration of the fluid genre hairstyle. Its predecessor, the Ghat, dates back centuries. The Greek poet Homer, writing in “The Iliad” in the 8th century BC, refers to spears with long hairs on their backs. David Bowie replaced Anna Ziggy Stardust in the seventies.
The red mark was the work of hairdresser Suzy Ronson, who wrote in “The Moth Present: All the Wonders” that Bowie first saw the spiky hairstyle on a female model and asked if Ronson, who Used to work in a London salon at the time, if I could do it over again. “It’s a little weird: it’s a woman’s hairstyle.” Ronson wrote. “And how do I actually do that?”
David Bowie with Suzie Ronson’s guitarist and husband Mick Ronson on a live recording of ‘The 1980 Floor Show’ performing for NBC’s ‘Midnight Special’ at The Marquee Club in London, 1973. Credit: Jack Key/Hilton Archive/Getty Images
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