Thom Browne Turned the Bowl Cut Into a Runway Statement
James Pecis cut roughly 90 wigs into "beetle shell" bowl cuts at Thom Browne's spring/summer 2027 show, paired with Serge Lutens-inspired makeup by Aaron de Mey.
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The takeaway
- James Pecis sourced about 90 wigs and cut the tops off each to create heavy-fringe 'beetle shell' bowl cuts at Thom Browne's spring/summer 2027 show.
- Makeup artist Aaron de Mey created two looks: rainbow cat eyes for dancing models and a Serge Lutens-inspired look with matte velvet skin and glossy pigmented lips.
- All models' skin was prepped with products from Dr. Diamond's Metacine line.
Thom Browne's spring/summer 2027 show put the bowl cut back on the fashion agenda, with roughly 90 wigs sliced into shiny, mushroom-like shapes by lead hairstylist James Pecis.
The show took insects as its inspiration, and the hair followed. "Thom wanted to keep it uniform with everyone having a 'beetle shell' on top of their head," Pecis said. "Everyone got some type of wig wrap, whether it was done with hairspray and a circular wrap or braid."
The technique was direct. Pecis and his team sourced about 90 wigs and cut the tops off each one, leaving a heavy fringe. The result: glossy, helmet-like silhouettes that read as equal parts sculpture and sixties revival.
The bowl cut carries deep associations beyond the kindergarten-era memory most people have of it. The Beatles wore the uniform style at one point in time — the show's other kind of "beetle." Zendaya wore a bowl cut at the 2016 Met Gala. And Pecis, along with makeup artist Aaron de Mey, drew on the work of beauty visionary Serge Lutens, whose signature blunt low bangs and pigmented lips and cheeks shaped the show's second beauty direction.
De Mey built two distinct makeup looks to sit alongside the cuts. The first targeted the models dancing in the show, whom he described as "'70s festival hippie cool girls." They wore rainbow cat eyes, a butterfly-inspired reference in keeping with the insect theme.
The second look channeled Lutens directly: angular cheekbones, pigmented lips, and a deliberate contrast of finishes. "I did matte velvet skin, so it really pushes the color in the eyes and the cheeks, and very glossy lips to juxtapose against the matte finish," de Mey said. Every model's skin was prepped with products from Dr. Diamond's Metacine line.
The overall aesthetic leaned artificial by design. "Thom likes hyperrealism, almost like it's artificial in a way," said Pecis. "But it's fantasy."
For salon professionals and product developers, the takeaway is concrete: a fringe-heavy, wig-based silhouette delivered uniformity at scale — 90 units, each hand-cut — while the makeup pairing shows how matte-gloss contrast can carry pigment-forward looks on a runway. With Browne, Zendaya and the Lutens archive all pointing the same direction, the bowl cut now has a credible fashion case behind it for the first time in years.
Source: Elle Beauty; Source: system-magazine.com
Daniel Okafor
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News editor covering business strategy at Eurasian Beauty Journal.
