Is it possible to crown something a trend when just two measly years ago Gen Zers held its funeral on TikTok? Oh, how the pendulum swings. Rumour has it that the side part is creeping back into public favour, so take this is a reminder that we are all just inconsequential slaves to the ever changing tides of fashion. Basically, it's time to eat our words.
Before we get into the hows and whys of this flammable statement, let us revisit the Great Hair Part Discourse of 2021 – or as it's known to those born during the length of Charles and Diana's marriage, that time the youth of the internet found another esoteric way to make all millennials feel extremely old.
Words were had and TikToks were made, most notably by @glowyberd who boldly stated “prove me wrong, but I don’t think there is a single person who looks better with a side part than they do a middle part". The statement parted users straight down the middle ha ha, and lunged at the jugular of defensive millennials who had been sporting the hairstyle since ye olde days of indie sleaze and pop punk. There was even a TikTok challenge born out of the debate, imaginatively titled #MiddlePartChallenge.
The consensus was this: side parts were dowdy and juvenile while a middle part made the wearer look modern, fresh and framed the face attractively. Well here's the thing, a small but nonetheless strong showing of celebrities has unveiled new side parts and we have a feeling the reign of the middle part may soon be over.
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So, where's the evidence you ask? Let us direct your attention to the place where many trends, once discarded for their ugliness, have been revived in recent years, that is the brain of Ms. Prada. In Miu Miu's recent Fall 2022 campaign, the creative director ushered together Angel Prost, Demi Singleton, Emily Ratajkowski and Sydney Sweeney, who could all be seen sporting chic side parts that all in all, feel sort of subversive given the hairstyle climate of the past two years.
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And lest we forget Fendi's Fall 22 campaign that saw Bella Hadid with a slick off-centre part, and again at Mugler Spring Summer 2022. Since then an array of other fashionable figures have been stepping out with side-swept parts, from Sky Ferreira to HoYeon Jung to Kim Kardashian to Rihanna. I mean nevermind that some of us risked being excommunicated by older family members over the subject, if Rihanna is onboard then so too are we, right?
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Either way, it's unlikely that we'll have to start pinning our hair to the side of our head while we sleep anytime soon. But if it is to be and we must embrace the side part, then we're going to do it with zest like our favourite side-sweeper Chloë Sevigny – and no millennials, we don't do apologies.
