Perm pride is here. The permanent wave, better known as the perm, has returned from banishment to the fringes of fashion since the ’90s, with men driving the curl renaissance.
Suspiciously luscious ringlets are bouncing out from baseball cap captivity to appear in advertising campaigns, on football ovals and at Monday morning office meetings.
Even Clark Kent (played by David Corenswet) in photographs from the set of the upcoming Superman movie from director James Gunn has replaced his slick side part with a voluminous style, described on social media as the Zoomer Perm and the Broccoli Cut.
Why perms are having a comeback
“I remember when we would give men perms and make fun of them afterwards,” says Danielle Tedesco, TAFE NSW head teacher for hairdressing and barbering. “There was a time when I would bang out seven or eight spiral perms for women a day, but men were rarely on board. Now the industry has changed and there’s a rise in men asking for perms.”
Interest has been driven by TikTok perm content from male influencers, with some makeover videos receiving more than 1 million views, including one of a 13-year-old boy with 26 million views. The influence of K-Pop performers is also helping men overcome the stigma of curling rods and the stench of perm solutions.
“Younger guys are asking for that soft curl on top to have the K-Pop look,” says Cameron Pine, editorial director of hair industry magazine In Style. “Music has a huge impact on hair trends and the power of K-Pop can’t be ignored.”
“Perms have always existed for men in Asian communities, where hair can be dead straight, but now it has crossed over into fashion. I’m not Asian and I’ve got one. I don’t know how long I’ll have it for, but so far, so good.”
Melbourne hairdresser Jeff Park specialises in perms for Asian men at Le Ciel salon in Carlton, but since 2021 he has received increasing requests from more racially diverse customers.
“It’s definitely the K-Pop influence,” Park says. “The styles that people are after to get the ‘idol’ look are different. Now many people are after the Down Perm, which stops longer hair at the sides from sticking out. There is no one perm style.”
The mullet connection
Alongside the impact of K-Pop stars such as Kim Tae-Hyung from BTS, who has a shadow perm with a fringe of defined curls falling across the face, Australian athletes have increased requests for perms by championing the mullet hairstyle.
The cascading curls of AFL player Darcy Byrne-Jones from Port Adelaide, nicknamed Darcy Perm-Jones, offer inspiration for men disappointed by a mullet’s sometimes stringy side effects.
The perm in popular culture and sport: David Corenswet as Clark Kent on the set of the new ‘Superman’ movie; South Korean singer Kim Tae-hyung of BTS; Darcy Byrne-Jones of Port Adelaide is the inspiration for some perm mullets.Credit: Erik Drost/Flickr, Getty
“The long hair at the back of the mullet can be limp and lifeless and that’s not the look most men are after,” says Tedesco.
“We have clients aged between 16 and 27 coming in to have volume added to classic ’80s mullets,” says 2023 Australian Modern Barber of the Year Award winner Matthew Clarke, who operates from Esquire Barbershop in Brisbane. “Young guys are going hard and there has been a big rise in perm requests in the past eight months.”
“Barbers like us now offer chemical treatments, which is great for anyone who still feels strange about going into a salon.”
The perm shortage
The increase in requests for perms has highlighted a shortage of practitioners in the industry, says Laura Szakaly from Toni & Guy salon in Melbourne’s South Yarra.
“There have definitely been advances in the perming process, however I think it’s a lost art,” Szakaly says.
Perm specialist Laura Szakaly applying rollers in a customer’s hair.Credit: Simon Schluter
The demand for skilled workers comes four years after perm training was dropped as a compulsory subject and became an elective for NSW TAFE hair courses. Tedesco says the rise in requests from students may see it return to the core curriculum alongside cutting and blow drys.
“We had years of women straightening their hair with irons and the industry demand just wasn’t there,” Tedesco says. “Now things are different and we will need to review the curriculum.”
While demand has changed, the chemical process of breaking down hair bonds and reforming them remains the same. To combat dryness some salons now use a conditioning treatment alongside the chemicals.
“The chemical smell is perhaps not as intense as it used to be, but you can still tell when a perm is taking place in the room,” Tedesco says.
Perm maintenance
While some men find perms as easy to maintain as running fingers through their hair, others require anti-frizz shampoos, curl lotions and wax sprays to maintain the look between treatments, which can be every three to six months.
“I can’t just wake up and leave the house now,” Pine says. “The natural curl look certainly takes some effort.”
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