Few pop stars have treated their hair as a creative canvas quite like Katy Perry. The singer turns 42 on 25 October, and Vanity Fair Italia has marked the occasion with a look back at her many colours and cuts. Fittingly, her latest change arrived just days before the birthday.
A rainbow of reinventions
Many fans are surprised to learn that Perry is a natural blonde. When she broke through in 2008 with “I Kissed a Girl”, she wore long, glossy black hair with a heavy fringe and a playful pin-up style that became her signature. Around 2011 she began experimenting in earnest, trying strawberry blonde, a short candy-pink bob and honey tones, before going blue in 2012.
Purple and deep red followed in 2015, and in 2017 she surprised everyone with a cropped platinum pixie cut. A few years later she returned to her familiar raven shade, and she has kept to darker tones for some time now. Pink, blue, lilac, aqua, platinum and even grey: there are few shades she has not tried at some point.
A new fringe for Nashville
On 21 October, Perry attended “CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton” at Belmont University’s Fisher Center in Nashville, where she introduced country singer Ella Langley. According to InStyle, it was the first time in around three years that she had worn a long, thick fringe. Hairstylist Andrew Ly gave her long, mermaid-like waves, with the wispy fringe framing her face, a softly retro look that Vanity Fair Italia compared to the divas of the 1970s.
WWD reported that she wore a vintage Roberto Cavalli gown from spring 2004, with patchwork animal prints in warm orange and brown. She finished it with a ring and earrings by Loree Rodkin and a vintage Christian Lacroix choker, proof that bold jewellery and a dramatic hairstyle can work together beautifully.
More than a hairstyle
Perry has said her changes are about more than fashion. In a 2017 session on the Viceland series The Therapist, she explained that cutting her hair short was partly a way to feel more like Katheryn Hudson, her birth name, and to be her authentic self rather than a persona.
If her colourful past inspires you, pick up the same shades in gemstones: lilac and violet amethyst rings, deep blue sapphire earrings, or a statement piece from our pendant necklaces to wear with a new fringe. Browse all our earrings to frame a fresh look.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “#Goodhairday: auguri a Katy Perry” (24 October 2026); InStyle via AOL, “Katy Perry Looks So Different With a Major Hair Transformation” (22 October 2026); WWD, “Katy Perry Revives Roberto Cavalli’s Early-2000s Style at Celebration of Dolly Parton” (22 October 2026); E! News on her hair history; Business Insider on The Therapist (2017). Featured image: AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of Katy Perry.
