Somewhere between a bold chop and the patience that long hair demands sits the medium-length cut, and this autumn it is having a real moment. In a new round-up of the season’s cuts, Vanity Fair Italia describes the mood for autumn and winter 2026/27 as a balance of elegance, natural texture and a dose of nineties grunge, drawing on both the red carpet and the work of Italian salons.
Three cuts to know
Speaking to the magazine, Ryan David Concannon, salon director at TONI&GUY Milano San Babila, names three reference shapes. The first is the clavicut, which grazes the collarbone and can be worn clean and compact or with light internal layers for movement. Cosmopolitan calls it the low-commitment option, short enough to feel fresh yet long enough for buns and ponytails, and points to Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber as fans. Vanity Fair Italia highlights Taylor Swift’s polished version with a full fringe, and Zoey Deutch’s beachy, undone take at the Academy Museum Gala.
The second is the boy bob, a shorter, cleaner bob with a slightly androgynous attitude. Cos Sakkas, global creative director of TONI&GUY, told Cosmopolitan it is one of the easiest bobs to wear this season, with a softly broken fringe. Vanity Fair Italia cites Charlize Theron’s jaw-length version as the example to save. The third is the soft shag, with more visible layers and texture. Suki Waterhouse is a long-time fan, and Kasia Smutniak wore a rebellious shag with an open fringe at the Rome Film Festival.
Supermodel glamour or nineties grunge
Styling, Concannon says, comes in two moods, both rooted in the nineties. One is supermodel glamour: big blow-dries, soft waves and glossy shine. The other is grunge, with natural texture and deliberately messy ends. Stylist magazine hears the same thing from London salons, where stylists at Hershesons and Nicola Clarke report clients asking for softer, lived-in shapes and a more polished, healthier-looking take on the seventies shag. The common thread is personal: a trend is only a starting point, and the cut should suit your features and natural texture.
A shorter or collarbone-length cut also changes how jewellery reads. With the neck and ears on show, a pair of statement earrings suddenly does far more work, and warm-toned garnet earrings suit autumn’s darker hair colours. A clavicut frames the collarbone, the natural place for one of our pendant necklaces, or browse all our necklaces for something to layer.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (22 October 2026); Cosmopolitan (September 2026); Stylist. Featured image: AI-generated illustrative salon still life.
