Teenage boys have a new hair style obsession.
You’ve probably seen a variation of the “alpaca” cut, as some are calling it, on the likes of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, internet personality Jake Paul and pop megastar Bad Bunny.
The look can vary, of course, but it has three signature traits: a close shave on sides and back of the head, a lot of curly fluff on top – and it looks like the tuft of hair between an alpaca’s ears.
Herson Bautista, owner of Heritage Barber and Company in Kensington, Md., told Morning Edition that he gives this haircut six to seven times a week and that it’s usually young men requesting it.
Bautista said the haircut is technically called a “textured fringe.”
“It’s a lot of volume on top. That means, like the texture of the hair rises,” Bautista said, adding that he would describe it like “an old mop” that sits on top of the client’s head.
Even kids with straight hair come to Bautista’s shop to get the haircut. Since they can’t naturally achieve the curls, Bautista said customers will make their way to a different salon to get a perm to achieve the haircut’s signature “poof-type of look.”
Bautista said he doesn’t know who made the cut popular, but he’s been getting requests for it in his barber shop for the past couple of years.
And there may be a more practical explanation for the haircut’s popularity that has more to do with the insecurity teenagers often feel.
Julian Guardado, owner of MagicCuts Barbershop in Silver Spring, Md., said he remembers that while growing up, some of his peers began letting their hair grow out to change the appearance of their heads.
“Some kids didn’t like the size of their forehead or they didn’t like the way that their hair would fall and lay naturally. So I feel like it has a lot to do with that, too,” Guardado said, adding that today’s youth may be adopting the trendy cut “because it’ll make their head shape look better.”
See how barbers and stylists achieve this look:
Transcript:
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK, we now have important news about hair – specifically the hair of younger men.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, it seems like a lot of teenage boys are getting this one particular haircut. It’s a fade on the sides with a poof of hair on the top, and sometimes with tendrils dangling down over the eyes.
INSKEEP: Now, we say teenage boys, but I’m sure you have a haircut like this…
MARTÍNEZ: Used to.
INSKEEP: …Out there in LA, A. Anyway, a few months ago, TikTok user Tara Fontana, who goes by the name @terribbletara, compared it to the look of a certain wooly mammal.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TARA FONTANA: Y’all have an alpaca, son.
MARTÍNEZ: An alpaca – Herson Bautiste owns Heritage Barber and Company in Kensington, Md. He says he gives six or seven of these cuts a week.
HERSON BAUTISTE: From 12-year-olds to 30-year-olds – I’ve seen it on all ages, all types. It’s a very trendy haircut.
INSKEEP: Now, he doesn’t call it the alpaca, or its other popular name, the broccoli. Oh, the broccoli – I can picture it. It took me a second there. But he doesn’t call it the broccoli. He calls it textured fringe.
BAUTISTE: It’s a lot of volume on top. That means, like the texture of the hair rises. If I can just say, like an old mop. Like, a hold up on top of the head. And then our job is to kind of blend it in.
MARTÍNEZ: Barber Julian Guardado owns magic cuts in Silver Spring, Md. He says the look has a practical purpose.
JULIAN GUARDADO: I remember when I was growing up, people started letting their hair fall in front of their face ’cause some kids didn’t like the side of the forehead or the way that their hair would fall and lay naturally. So I feel like it has a lot to do with that, too, you know?
INSKEEP: OK, so I’m still – I’ve still got the phrase the broccoli in my head. That’s really sticking with me. But the barber there doesn’t use that term or the alpaca. He calls it the mushroom.
MARTÍNEZ: What should we call it, Steve? Ugly?
INSKEEP: No. No. People can have their own style.
MARTÍNEZ: I used to have it, long ago.
INSKEEP: OK, OK.