Gigi Hadid Is the Latest Celebrity to Go ‘Expensive Brunette’

Gigi Hadid hasn’t been afraid to experiment with her hair these last few months. She’s been everything from blonde to bright red and now, the coolest shade trend: expensive brunette.

The supermodel unveiled her new look in an apt fashion: a new campaign for Moschino, shot by photographer Steven Meisel. You can see the photo here. Hadid’s hair is now a rich sunset brown, and for this shoot, it’s styled with super volume and a top-knot bun. It’s stunning. 

So what, exactly, is expensive brunette? “Expensive brunette is all about giving deeper hair energy, dimension, and detail,” says celebrity hairstylist Tom Smith, European creative director for Evo Hair. “It’s all too easy when going for a darker shade of hair color to apply one tone all over, a similar result to using a box dye at home. I’m of the opinion that it’s professional hair colorists’ responsibility to give our clients something they could never get at home, and so expensive brunette is all about adding detail and interest with multiple deeper shades to make the result more dimensional and expensive looking.” 

Smith continued, “In the celebrity world, it’s often ‘the bolder the better,’ hence why so many celebrities are blonde or choose obviously artificial shades for their own hair or use wigs. Now that a brunette can look equally as ‘expensive’ and ‘designed’ as brighter or bolder shades, it makes sense that many celebrities are interested in the deeper tones.”

If you’re interested in achieving a similar look, Smith has some suggestions for when you’re at the salon: “The key element to discuss with your hairstylist is that you don’t want one flat color all over. Expensive brunette is all about depth and dimension, and so you and your colorist should agree on the deepest shade and the lightest shade you want to see in your hair and then allow the colorist to place shades between in a way they see fit to enhance your hair cut…It’s key to make sure your colorist knows you want to be seen as an ‘exciting brunette,’ not edging towards being seen as a blonde.” 

Thanks, Gigi Hadid, for the 2022 hair inspo.