2021 Return of the mullet

In 2020 we saw the rebirth of the iconic and genderless mullet haircut and this year it's back again, but even better with many creating, modifying and personalising their cuts for a more modern take on the traditional mullet.

This year we have seen the comeback of many trends, but the most surprising of them all has to be the 1980’s mullet, which for many is seen as an extremely controversial cut. Over the past year, this hairstyle has thrived on TikTok with the #mullet tag reaching over 1.8 billion views. Like all trends, this first appeared on the alternative side of the internet, where the mullet began to gradually slip into the mainstream media.

According to an online source, searches on “How to cut a mullet” have also risen dramatically by 124% within this past year. During the early 2000s, the mullet wasn’t taken very seriously, known as the “ultimate bad haircut” it was used frequently on runways or red-carpet events to help attract attention and spark conversations. The popularity of this style launched around the middle of 2020, specifically during the lockdown period where many hair salons and stylists across the world were forced to close their doors to the public due to guidelines. This caused an uprise of DIY hairstyling and compelled many individuals to dive in at this attempt. Although mullets were initially considered as a masculine style in the 1980s, it has proven incredibly popular amongst the Gen Z teenagers who are actively embracing the Genderfluid movement.

2020 has seen many individuals rocking this look with many females and non-binary people espousing this style equally as much as cis men. Many female celebrities including; Cara Delevingne, Miley Cyrus, Keke Palmer, Hasely, Rihanna and Barbie Ferreira are also embracing this androgynous hairstyle. Australian born singer and activist for the LGBTQ, ‘Troye Sivan’ also decided to jump on the mullet trend. He shocked fans with his new look during the release of his new music video ‘IN A DREAM’ which came out in August 2020. During an interview last December, the artist told Vogue: “I think I’m going to cut the sides short to make it worse and simultaneously better,”.

Troye made it clear that has no intention of getting rid of his new cut only amplifying the style. In other words, his cut is here to stay. Troye is known across the LGBTQ and mainstream media for his gender blending style and his iconic looks.

During his 2018 music video release for his single ‘Bloom’, Troye presents enchanting visuals which feature him in multiple chic and genderfluid high fashion fits with a variety of glitzy beauty looks. Which is consistent throughout the entire video. Despite the early controversy surrounding the mullet, the popularity of the style is continuing to rise within the mainstream beauty and fashion industry. And alongside this, the support and acceptance of queer individuals and androgyny, within society is also soaring through the roof. It is quite clear that androgyny is popular with the new generation and for now, we can definitely say that as well as the mullet cut, androgyny is also here to stay.