Timothée Chalamet hair: curls return at Victoria’s Secret show

Timothée Chalamet’s hair is back in its happy place. At the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Sunday, the actor turned up with neck-grazing, centre-parted waves and a curtain fringe settling just above his brows — a quietly confident return to the length that made him a poster boy for modern, unfussy grooming.

He kept the outfit monkish and monochrome — a black suede jacket over a black tee — while the hair provided all the movement. Seated front row next to Kris Jenner as Kylie Jenner made her runway debut in a diamond-crusted “Fantasy Bra” reportedly worth £38 million, Chalamet looked like a man reunited with his favourite cut.

What happened

The headline is the hair: medium length, parted down the middle, and left to fall naturally so the fringe kisses the brows while the back brushes the collar. It reads as deliberately casual rather than over-styled, with a healthy, low-sheen finish and enough lift through the roots to avoid a flat curtain.

Up close, the shape leans on long, soft layers, which keep weight in the fringe so it hangs rather than frizzes. The crown looks lightly de-bulked to stop any helmet effect, and the ends are scissor-finished for that undetectable edge you only get from a good barber working patiently rather than rushing clippers through the top.

The centre part is key. It creates the classic curtain effect but with a modern looseness — no ruler-straight split, just a natural break found with a comb and fingers. It’s the sort of cut that thrives on a light pre-dry with a hairdryer and then a touch of product to set the bend in the wave.

Styling-wise, the finish suggests a soft-hold cream or curl-enhancing lotion, possibly backed up by a quick mist of sea salt for grip. Shine is dialled down to mid-matte, which keeps the texture believable and the movement clean. If your hair is naturally wavy or thick, this is low-effort, high-payoff territory.

For the event itself, Chalamet didn’t compete with the spectacle around him. The all-black outfit and minimalist accessories let the hair be the talking point — a smart move when you’re sat front row while your partner does the strutting.

The background

This return to form lands roughly a year after he took it all off for Dune: Part Three. The buzz cut triggered a tidal wave of memes online, and then came the slow grow-out that every short-back-and-sides survivor knows well.

On the way back to length, he detoured through a handful of textbook in-between styles — a spiky, gel-forward phase in February, a more relaxed mod-adjacent shag in April, and even a flirtation with a mini mullet spotted during the Knicks finals. It’s the natural itinerary from buzz to “barber, just a tidy-up”.

The timing makes sense as he heads into promo for the final Dune instalment: the red carpet loves a centre-parted wave because it photographs well from every angle. The silhouette flatters cheekbones, softens strong jawlines and slips easily between tailoring and tees.

For the rest of us, it’s a cut with broad appeal if you’ve got some natural texture. Guys with thicker hair can lean into the layers without ballooning in humidity — and we’ve rounded up smart options in our guide to the best hairstyles for men with thick hair in 2026.

If you’re still growing out a close crop, patience and trims are your friends. From near-bald to this kind of movement is typically the best part of a year, with maintenance snips every 8–10 weeks to shape the outline. If you’d rather skip the wait and go sharp again, our take on the Erling Haaland short cut shows why a decisive chop can also look brilliant.

Meanwhile, the products that make medium-length waves look intentional rather than accidental are refreshingly simple: a sea salt spray for grip, a light cream for control, and perhaps a finishing paste for the fringe. If you’re building that shelf, we’ve tested the lot in our edit of the best sea salt sprays for men and our long hair product guide.