Dua Lipa Is Leaning Into Her Extreme Side With This Dramatic Shag

Dua Lipa’s new album, Radical Optimism, drops in just a few days, and she seems to be taking the first part of the concept literally. The “vacanza queen” has been jet-setting for assorted interviews and promotions, of course, but she’s also testing the limits of her aesthetic range with all sorts of incredible new looks — some of which have left her utterly unrecognizable. In one such photoshoot with biannual art magazine Beauty Papers, Lipa wears a shag haircut, chopped into a messy, layered, shoulder-skimming length. It’s retro, it’s unexpected, and it’s indeed radical — what better way to kick off her album release week than by showing a whole new side of Lipa?

In the cool, greyscale photos, the singer’s hair, styled by editorial pro Malcolm Edwards, is textured, artfully uneven, and tapered to curve around her face and slightly flare out as the ends spill down around her collarbone. Though just a temporary wig for the shoot, the shortest the star hair has been since her asymmetric bob era back in 2020. Her color is a bit of a shakeup, too. Lipa kicked off her album cycle by unveiling a fiery shade of red, and in the shoot, she’s a deep, cool-toned brunette.

The hair is dramatic, definitely, but it’s actually growing in popularity among the celebrity set It’s a trendy look for for edgy photoshoot and ad campaigns in particular, but there’s also an uptick in star opting for mullets and choppy shags in their real-life, too. Kaia Gerber just wore a similar, bang-accented style for a special cover of V Magazine, Beyoncé had a striped mullet on CR Fashion Book, and both Miley Cyrus and Cardi B have worn short, tapered cuts out and about. With just a few careful snips of the scissors, a star can achieve a totally new look and image.

Lipa’s mullet is actually one of three bold, distinct looks for this edition of Beauty Papers. In one, her hair seems to be natural, long and red, while her creative makeup designs do most of the talking. In the third variant, she’s actually blonde, calling to mind the vintage platinum bob she wore in the 2024 film Argylle.

If these covers are anything like the new album, expect the music to be a major pivot.