Hollywood Embraces Ice Hockey's 'Lettuce Hair' Trend from the Rink to Red Carpets
The Wuthering Heights star Jacob Elordi is among a host of actors swept up by the lettuce look, a hair trend that has flowed from the ice hockey rink to Hollywood's red carpets. This gentler take on the traditional mullet, featuring wavy tops and feathery tails, is winning over celebrities and sportspeople alike, blending athletic culture with high-fashion style.
What Is Lettuce Hair?
Lettuce hair is a trending style that draws inspiration from an unconventional source: the vegetable aisle. It consists of subtle differences in length between the back, sides, and top of the hair, resembling leafy greens. The look features a loose and often wavy top, softly tapered sides, and a feathery tail that skims the back of the neck, offering a modern twist on classic cuts.
For his Wuthering Heights press tour, Jacob Elordi toned down his on-screen regency cut, tapering the sides but keeping the windswept top and tail, evoking a head of romaine lettuce. Similarly, the wavy locks of Heated Rivalry's Connor Storrie could be mistaken for a curled endive, while figure skater Ilia Malinin's butter-lettuce locks add extra drama to his performances.
Origins in Ice Hockey
The salad style stems from the world of ice hockey, where players widely embraced the mullet during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the mullet's decline in the 1990s, hockey players were slow to ditch the party at the back and instead toned it down, resulting in more modern lettuce locks.
Markus Ekroth, a right-winger for Sweden's Nackarockers, explains, The classic sign of proper hockey hair is that you can clearly see it flowing out at the back while wearing a helmet. His team has amassed hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok videos showcasing their best lettuce hair, highlighting its role in hockey identity.
Hockey players refer to the longer tufts of hair fluttering out from under their helmets as they skate as flow or flow state. During events like the Winter Olympics, fine examples of this flow are on display, with players like the US's William Nylander and Sweden's Mika Zibanejad praised for their great lettuce.
Spread to Hollywood and Beyond
Now, the trend is whizzing its way from the rink to the red carpet. Barry Keoghan's new hair, as he prepares to play Ringo Starr, is heavily lettuce coded, as are Harry Styles's tufty tresses in promotional photos for his album Aperture. Other celebrities like Glen Powell, Brad Pitt, Paul Mescal, and Austin Butler have also recently succumbed to the salad style.
John King, editor-in-chief of Pulltab Sports, notes that while a mullet is hockey hair, not all hockey hair is a mullet. He has been compiling an annual All Hockey Hair Team YouTube video since 2011, ranking the lettuce of Minnesota high school hockey teams, attracting subscribers worldwide, many of whom have never watched a hockey game.
Appeal and Future of the Trend
Part of the appeal of lettuce hair is its ability to boost confidence. Ekroth says, It doesn't physically add anything to your performance, but the saying 'look good, play good' definitely applies. Some players have begun getting perms for a consistent curly lettuce look or bleaching it for extra impact, raising questions about whether Hollywood will follow suit.
As this trend continues to evolve, it bridges sports and entertainment, showing how cultural phenomena can transcend their origins. Only time will tell if Hollywood fully embraces the flow, but for now, lettuce hair is making waves both on and off the ice.
