What exactly are some of the latest trends in men’s hair in Lahore? Is it short? Is it long? Are spikes still in? The mutual answer every salon in the city offered was: the undercut.

Quite the rage for a few years now, this haircut entails longer hair on the top of the head and the sides and uber-short at the back. You lose some hair, but gain many more style points. And this isn’t even something developed just recently; it goes way back to the ’20s after which it kept appearing in different eras in different forms.

“The undercut has been the most in demand for over four years now and is still going strong,” says Zeeshan Ahmed, who runs Zeeshan’s Hair Salon on main Ferozepur Road. “Earlier the demand was for spikes. Mostly youngsters demand undercut but slightly altered with short sides and a little longer at the top.”

For the city’s residents the undercut is the go-to hairstyle

Attique, style director at the M.M. Alam Road branch of Toni&Guy salon, concurs. “The good thing is all age groups can adopt this cut since it can be styled in many ways,” he says. “One can look decent, rough, adventurous. Give the top hair a bounce and it’ll look funky, if it’s slicked back it looks gentlemanly, if it just rests on the head it’s decent.”

Celebrities are and have always been an inspiration for boys vis-a-vis haircuts. From David Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo to Salman and Shahrukh Khan, hairstyle icons have had a major impact.

For 25-year-old Imtiaz, a rickshaw driver from Nishtar Colony, Bollywood has inspired him many a time. “I have copied John Abraham’s look from Dhoom and Arjun Rampal’s from Deewanapan,” he admits. “But since I can’t grow my hair because of my job, I recently copied Aftab Shivdasani’s hairstyle from his film Muskaan. I go to my barber and show him pictures on my mobile phone of the look I want.”

Attique feels that most boys haven’t moved on from David Beckham yet and he’s still a style icon for many. “Whatever style he has made over the years, it’s been copied. Even the undercut was initially sported by him.” What about our local celebrities? “Locally, Fawad Khan’s hairstyle has been appreciated, but he brought it with him from Bollywood,” says Attique. “That’s the pattern: the West introduces a style, then Bollywood copies it and finally it reaches us. International model Jon Kortajarena’s hairstyle is also popular these days. Though he sports an undercut, it’s the styling that stands out.”

Zeeshan Ahmed says his clients usually bring random pictures from the net, not particularly celebs. “A few weeks ago Faisal Qureshi’s hairstyle looked good and was copied by a couple of boys. Then one brought Akshay Kumar’s picture the other day sporting a new style, which was an undercut but with thin lines cut with razor on the sides. A slightly older person would never have this done.”

Saeed says “We do what the client asks us to do. Copying haircuts isn’t rocket science.” When sought advice, he suggests according to face cut or height or hair volume. “If you’re short, we’d suggest you comb back to look tall. A tall person should part hair. In these 40 years of handling this business, there’s much more awareness through the media about hairstyles.”

There are ‘boys’ out there, of course, who don’t care about the latest trends and just want a comfortable, neat, simple haircut that’s not a hassle either. “I just want a neat haircut, nothing funky or modern for me,” says Ahsan, a 30-something computer engineer. “I don’t follow latest trends because I can’t be bothered. I used to use a lot of gel while I was in 8th and 9th grade and suffered hair fall, which scared me. The maximum I’ve used since then is hair oil.”

Older and balding people often prefer cuts that give volume to their hair. Saeed discloses that an older person can look young by dyeing their hair or getting a hair transplant, something which is becoming increasingly common these days. He adds that there’s a new trend in hair dying also. He cites the example of a doctor from the UK who wanted his hair dyed grey-silver. “The all black look is out. In fact, some older people prefer grey hair. They want to age gracefully.”

Some styles never fade and always remain trendy. One of them is long hair. Summer or winter, some boys barely have their hair cut short. “Long hair never goes out of fashion and never will,” say Ahmed. “It can be maintained in a lot of ways: three steps, two steps, straight, depending on your face cut and hair type.”

So what does the future hold in terms of hair trends? Can boys look forward to something more adventurous? Something that will make them stand out? The experts have spoken and the verdict is in. “I foresee the man bun making waves in Pakistan, even though it’s been done to death abroad,” predicts Attique.

“Another style coming up is somewhat similar to what boys in the UK sport — sides completely shaved off and hair on the top just an inch long. But it remains to be seen who will adopt such styles because people are conscious of their double chin also, which is why such people demand voluminous hair. Longer hair in the front and short sides make your face appear longer, which hides the double chin. We want people to change their styles, but they don’t want to take risks,” he says.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 23rd, 2016