Strange hairstyles of 2000s footballers Mèches, pigtails, doublet cuts the football pitches have put up with everything over time

In these weeks between Milan and Paris, with the return of the long-awaited fashion week, the aesthetics of the 2000s have made a comeback in some places. In Milan, in particular, the Fendace collection (Fendi and Versace) and in Paris MIU MIU's collection have drawn attention to glitter and all the kitsch that the glorious 2000s brought with them. In those years, thanks to the explosion of pay-TV, and football starting to be played from the comfort of home, footballers began to take greater care of their image, which from then on became a fundamental aspect for every professional. The American journalist Roger Bennett summed up the aesthetics of those years perfectly in one sentence, highlighting the role of a footballer who, more than anyone else, broke every mould, redefining, if you like, the role of footballer as image man: David Beckham.  

"Before Beckham, footballers were adored by men in their 40s who also liked dog racing and Rugby League."

In fact, before the 2000s when aesthetics were largely redefined, footballers, their image and specifically their hairstyles were chaotic, messy and rather undefined, aligned with the music genre that ruled the charts around the world in the 90s: rock. From the advent of Beckham onwards, before the influencers, before the hairdressers, their reels and their innovative cuts, it was the footballers who set the trends with their strange hairstyles and dubious colours. There are haircuts that have gone down in history, such as Ronaldo's in the 2002 World Cup final, when the Brazilian's buzzcut tormented barbers around the world for months on end, and they ended up endlessly reproducing that strange triangle. Nowadays, despite the fact that the image of every professional is even more carefully crafted, footballers are no longer able to dictate new trends as they used to, repoing some of the most iconic looks from the past.

Impossible not to associate Hamsik with the crest he has had since his debut in the Brescia camp, this is another iconic hairstyle that the football fields have had to see and endure. From Radja Nainggolan who had all kinds of crests, from the simplest to the most varied to Fredrik Ljungberg who loved to turn up before matches with Arsenal with his purple crest. But over the years it has hardly ever left the field, another modern representative of this movement was undoubtedly Stephan El Shaarawy who still proudly wears a slightly softer mohawk than in the past, fortunately, we might add.

Footballers and hair have always been an inseparable pair that over the years has set various trends, inspiring generations and in some cases even ruining the hair of thousands of people. Footballers have treated their hair like a blank canvas, where something innovative can be created to move or draw attention to it, as in the case of Ronaldo in 2002, or to establish themselves as a style icon, an operation which has not always been successful. But the aesthetics of the 2000s, as demonstrated by the recent Blue Marine fashion show in Milan and the latest collections by Prada and Dolce&Gabbana, are making a strong comeback, in some cases however, we hope not to see them on the playing field.