We said it here first: After watching Daisy Jones & the Six, the Amazon Prime miniseries adaptation of the widely popular book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, you’ll immediately want retro shags with fringe.
It’s the classic tale of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Loosely based on Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac. The story follows both the rise and fall of rock and roll band Daisy Jones & the Six, starring Riley Keough, Sam Clafin, Suki Waterhouse, Camila Morrone, Nabiyah Be, Will Harrison, Sebastian Chacon, and Josh Whitehouse. Following the series’ season coming to an end (no spoilers ahead!), we are already seeing its major cultural impact.
While the hype surrounding the show is real, we couldn’t help but notice one thing in particular throughout the show: HAIR, HAIR, HAIR. Heavy fringe, long voluminous layers and retro shaggy men’s cuts—Lead Hairstylist MaryAnn Hennings and team surely did not disappoint in completely the rock and roll bands’ looks.
After Hennings ran the hair department on the set of Where the Crawdads Sing, producer of Hello Sunshine Lauren Neustadter reached out to her regarding working on Daisy Jones & the Six. “It was an immediate YES! This was a dream job. The iconic 70s, fashion, rock & roll, and a stunning cast,” says Hennings.
Before filming began, Hennings and her team started their prep work by breaking down the script and meeting with producers and director Nzingha Stewart to understand their visions for the series. In addition, Hennings and her team collaborated with the show’s makeup department head Rebecca Wachtel and costume designer Denise Wingate to create a “total look and vibe for all the characters,” says Hennings.
Hennings go-to hair tools she used to create the cast’s looks were the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer, Airwrap multi-styler, and Corrale styler straightener. In addition, Bio Ionic curling irons, T3 hair dryers, GHD flat irons, and of course hot rollers were used.
For hair products, Hennings used a variety including the Oribe Superfine Hair Spray and Swept Up Volume Powder Spray, Olaplex Nº.6 Bond Smoother, amika un.done volume and matte texture spray, Ouai Volume Spray, Living proof. hair creams and volumizers, Iles Formula shampoo, conditioner, and hair treatments, and everything IGK Hair Good Behavior Collection.
With rumors circulating of a potential second season in the works, what better way to celebrate than to recap the many hairstyles of the powerful women of Daisy Jones & the Six!
Daisy Jones
When it came to the show’s main character Daisy Jones (played by Riley Keough), Henning’s go-to inspiration came from none other than the iconic Stevie Nicks. The goal for Daisy’s look was to channel Nicks’ “hyper-feminine, bohemian, wild sexy hair,” says Hennings.
Throughout the show, there is a vast amount of storytelling communicated via the hair, specifically relating to Daisy. Whenever Daisy would perform, her hair immediately became a part of her act. “Her loose curls, long red sexy hair showed her wild, free style and it all came to life when she danced,” Hennings says.
Both Keough and Hennings collaborated to create Daisy Jones’ signature look. While trying to find inspiration for her look, Keough herself researched Daisy Jones fan art connected to the 2019 book. In an interview with the show’s production company, Hello Sunshine, Keough explained that most of the fan art included Daisy with bangs. In addition, she added that the long and effortless waves were also inspired from the fans’ point of view.
Channeling Daisy Jones’ signature hair wasn’t that difficult for Keough, as her natural hair emulates the same style—just minus the bangs. For years, Keough has been coloring her hair red with the help of celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham. Just like everyone else, even Daisy Jones needed a root touch-up every now and then! While filming the show, Hennings would use the Color Wow Root Cover Up in Red to hide any of Keough’s regrowth and maintain her roots in between touch ups.
Simone Jackson
Unlike her character in the book, Simone Jackson (played by Nabiyah Be) does not fade into the background. Throughout the series, the singer-songwriter turned disco diva has a much more significant character arc outside of her friendship with Daisy Jones. As viewers, we see Simone Jackson grow into her queerness, all of which is reflected through the evolution of her hairstyles.
Be wore a plentiful amount of wigs throughout the series. “Working with makeup and costume designers it was easy to bring Simone to life with wigs. These wigs helped to tell her story of her struggles and rise to fame,” says Hennings. When we first meet her in the series, Simone’s hair channels a big mixture of disco-era legends like Diana Ross, Chaka Khan and Donna Summer—big curls and lots of volume.
Be’s character is loosely based on the legendary disco queen Donna Summer, who had major influence within the LGBTQ+ music scene in the 70s and 80s.
After meeting Bernie (played by Ayesha Harris) a New York-based DJ, Simone begins to come to terms with her queerness. As their romance blossoms, we see her start to embrace her natural hair—the infamous afro. “Simon felt empowered with this hair, when she moved to NY and became a disco queen, that’s where she began to shine and embrace the Diana Ross vibe,” says Hennings.
Camila Dunne
Not only is Camila Dunne (played by Camila Morrone) the wife of the band’s lead singer Billy Dunne, but also the complete opposite of Daisy Jones. That being said, it was important to Hennings to accentuate the polar opposites of both characters saying “Daisy looked like a rock star and Camila was the opposite — soft, natural beauty.”
This contrast can be seen through Camila Dunne’s long and soft effortless curls. With the help of the Dyson Corrale Straightener, Hennings was able to achieve the natural looking waves that viewers could not stop gushing over.
In the first few episodes of the series, Camila is seen with long, straight, black hair—the ultimate homage to Ali MacGraw. Throughout the remainder of the series, Morrone’s character has quite the hair evolution. As the band gains more fame, Camila starts growing into her own which is ultimately reflected in her hairstyles. Similarly, wigs were used throughout the series to convey the passage of time. Camila’s character wore a long salt and pepper wig for her 1990’s reveal look.
Karen Sirko
Throughout the series, Karen Sirko (played by Suki Waterhouse) remained the mysterious cool-girl keyboardist. Emulating this aesthetic, Hennings had the perfect inspiration to pull from; former French actress, singer and model, Brigette Bardot. “The blonde hair with curtain bangs and hot roller set is iconic for the 70s,” says Hennings.
When planning Karen’s hair, Hennings had a few goals, for it to be big, full and accompanied with wispy long fringe. Because Waterhouse has very fine hair using a detangler and leave-in conditioner was key when achieving this look.
Since curling irons didn’t exist in the 70s, Hennings whipped out the era-appropriate hot rollers to create Karen’s hair. Hennings describes her process, “To achieve the looks of the ‘70s, hot rollers and a lot of aerosol hairsprays were used. However, hair equipment, hair tools, and products have come so far making it easier to maintain the looks while shooting in humidity, rain, sweat, heat and wind.”
Similar to creating Camila Dunne’s look, Hennings used the Dyson Airwrap when she was in a pinch for time. Since the Dyson Airwrap doesn’t have a clamp like the standard curling iron, you don’t have to deal with creating curls that are stiff and shiny but rather soft and bouncy. Some would call it the modern-day version of hot rollers!
For Karen’s 1990’s reveal look she also was sporting a wig, one which was heavily inspired by Debbie Harry’s iconic hair — a bleach blonde shaggy lob full of volume and texture.
For more information on MaryAnn Hennings and her work on Daisy Jones & the Six, make sure to check out her Instagram!
