Hair

Isabeli Fontana’s Haircut at Michael Kors Is the Chop of the Season

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Photographed by Hunter Abrams / @hunterabrams

It’s hard to single out one major model moment at Michael Kors because the casting is just so good. Gigi! Bella! Precious! Irina! Emily! At last night’s Fall 2022 show they were all in full form, exuding the kind of sexy confidence that comes with slipping into Kors’s easy evening wear and some of the best coats we’ve seen on the runway this week. But in the parade of razor-sharp cheekbones, and behind the smoky eyes and the slicked back hair that Orlando Pita either parted straight down the middle or to the side (“classic Michael,” per Pita) there was one such moment: Brazilian supermodel Isabeli Fontana was back on the runway—and her long, bombshell waves had been replaced with a new, short haircut.

Courtesy of Women Management

“Michael texted me quite late, at 10 p.m. the night before the show and he said, ‘Isabeli wants you to cut her hair all off tomorrow,” Pita reveals of the impetus for the chop, which was inspired by a picture of Linda Evangelista from the ’90s that Kors sent the hairdresser as a reference. But it wasn’t a carbon copy. “Linda’s was more like a bowl; this is more choppy,” explains Pita, adding that the magic happened backstage before the show and was emotional for everyone. “She started to tear up!” he says of how Fontana responded to the makeover, which he did in stages to manage the shock value.

Courtesy of Women Management

Drastic haircuts have been a big part of our pandemic healing, with blunt bobs and mullets representing the physical manifestation of our emotional transformation through lockdowns, mask mandates, and the hope of once again moving freely throughout the world. But the shorter cuts that have appeared on the runway of late offer a different promise. “The psychology behind it is not wanting to look the same as everyone,” suggests Pita; Fontana agrees. “I feel like this shows me in my truest light,” the model says of the cut, which is longer and more free-form than a pixie, with weight in the front for styling versatility. Individuality is great, of course; but imitation remains the highest form of flattery. Hairstylists the world over should prepare to see a lot of screenshots of the images above.

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