Every decade has a signature cut. The 50s had short-back-and-sides, the 70s long flowing locks, and the 80s the mullet. In the 90s, though, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Kurt Cobain, it was all about curtains. Two decades later, they’ve made a comeback – and it’s not just for the boys. “They’re back, massively so,” said Jackson Acton, owner of Crab Salad salon in south London. “It’s a definite trend.” Back in the day, a grown-out fringe, parted down the middle, was the go-to style for teen heart-throbs. In Britain, Paul Nicholls and Take That’s Mark Owen perfected the look; and in the US, Claire Danes swooned first over Jared Leto’s curtains by the school lockers in teen drama series My So-Called Life and then over DiCaprio’s curtains in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. DiCaprio remains an inspiration, along with actor Timothée Chalamet, but this time around, says Luke Hersheson, of Hersheson salons, curtains are more for women. “It’s synonymous with the late 90s. Bella Hadid channels the vibe of that time and it’s very grungy,” he said. “Even parting your hair in the centre is a nod in the right direction.” Liam Freeman, a journalist at Vogue, said he had gone for a look that was a less gender-specific version of the hairstyle he had when he was 12. “It’s below the earlobe and not perfectly symmetrical,” he said. “Brad Pitt and Kurt Cobain famously popularised curtains at the time, but Winona Ryder, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, even Princess Diana, also framed their face in a way that’s reminiscent of the style.” Curtains were certainly preferable to cutting your own hair, he added. Celebrity hairdresser Charlie Le Mindu thinks the comeback is part of the trend for DIY hair products and fits in with the coronavirus lockdown “no-shampoo” movement.