In praise of the silver fox

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A silver slash crosses magazines, catwalks, red carpets and screens. In Prada’s latest campaign, Vincent Cassel’s sleek gray hair demonstrates fitting punctuation for a well-cut black suit. Saint Laurent menswear is being shaped by four film directors: Abel Ferrara, David Cronenberg, Jim Jarmusch and Pedro Almodóvar, united by their distinctive white shocks; fellow director Luca Guadagnino appears in Loewe’s SS23 pre-collection campaign, his salt and pepper eruption looking particularly wonderful. Also see Adam Driver, playing Enzo Ferrari, for the new biopic directed by Michael Mann, wearing a gray cape. (Mann has always loved gray hair: remember Tom Cruise and his fabulous steel ceiling in Collateral?)

“Men with gray hair seem to ooze confidence,” says Men’s Hair. stylist Jody Taylor. “Maybe because he separates them from the boys? Certainly, a good head of natural gray implies that you have lived a life, and there is a confidence in owning your gray hair, not dyeing it, keeping it natural. I’m all for it.”

Maybe gray hair separates the men from the boys?

Taylor says his own gray makes him feel good about aging—it’s a visual indicator that he’s becoming more comfortable in his skin as it matures. Jeff Bridges is the gray hair icon of him: “Long, a little messy, a little wavy, beard – there’s just something about him that looks great all the time.”

Historically, the notion of the silver fox is a story of powder and wigs. “White and gray long hair was a very popular ‘accessory’ among Western court men in the 18th and 19th centuries,” says Marta Franceschini, a fashion historian and curator. “I say accessory, because the wigs were used to obtain a fashionable look of the time.” Natural hair was also powdered white.

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Today, the silver look is just as coveted. Charlie Clark-Perry, head of Supa Model Management, has several silver foxes on his books, including Chris Martin, who is 60 and stars in the latest campaign for Rimowa. Martin modeled in the 1980s for artists like Hermes, a fact Clark-Perry did not know when he searched for him on the beach at St Leonards. Relativity seems part of the appeal of such models. Also, “most brands know that people who may be older will have money to spend,” Clark-Perry adds.

Joel Frampton, 44, also of Supa, has been a model for 25 years. His own graying began after a bout of alopecia in 2020. “I didn’t consider gray or white initially, I was just delighted to get some hair back,” he recalls. “But the jobs multiplied with this new short silver look.” His first job as a silver fox was for fendi. He says that fashion is more open-minded now. “Everyone I work with in the industry raves about my hair color and genuinely believes I will work even more.”

Taylor says that since gray hair has different textures, you should experiment with styling. “As a throwback to Jeff Bridges, I like a classic, defined cut with a side parting, a bit Pierce Brosnan,” he says.

Edward James, co-founder of The hair consultation, offers a bespoke hair product service. “The way we go gray is unique to each of us,” he explains, “making it an intentional style statement, whether it’s a strong streak of Mallen that actor Richard Madden has, or an even tone of steel like the model Michael Justin”.

She cautions that gray hair can be discolored by environmental pollution or hard water, so she recommends using a silver-lightening shampoo, such as RedkenColor Extend Graydiant. Styling products that enhance gray hair, such as oribe‘s Silverati Illuminating Pomade or Shu UemuraNendo Definer Matte Clay, is also worth looking into. As for the cut, she suggests keeping the shape of the gray hair mostly neat, although “on the back and sides I usually advise my clients not to wear it too short, as gray hair can make the scalp rough.” more visible”.

Perhaps one of the reasons for changing perceptions about gray hair is related to the fact that human beings simply live longer. “It’s no longer seen as a sign of aging,” James says of this new era of celebrating aging. We are never more reminded of this than when the excellent Sir David Attenborough in his latest BBC series wild islands he’s hanging out with some puffins, in a khaki anorak, his silver hair blowing gloriously in the breeze.