‘Crochet blonde’ is set to be autumn’s hottest hair colour trend

With the hotly anticipated release of Blonde on Netflix, the hair colour itself is having a serious moment. None more so than crochet blonde, where hushed, lighter hues are meticulously woven together to reflect the autumn light. 

While sun-bleached white blonde is far and away the most popular hair colour for summer, it can feel out of place on grey winter days. But if the latest hair colour trends are anything to go by AW22 won’t deviate from blonde hues, they’ll just read as warmer – a feeling conjured up crochet blonde’s name alone. So it might be time to re-think your full-head of milky blonde without necessarily venturing into darker mushroom blonde territory.  

As our wardrobes begin to lean towards cold weather situations with chunky knits and buttery suede boots, our hair colour should ideally follow suit, making crochet blonde the perfect post-summer transitional shade. “Knitwear has lots of texture due to how it’s shaped and crafted but when you look closely at the wool you will see that different high and low hues make up a single colour – crochet blonde is based on the same principle,” says Christel Barron-Hough, founder and creative director of STIL, who has coined the term. “Interlocking beige, cream and gold hues are layered in a pattern to create a knit-like texture, creating dimensional colour that is inviting to the touch. It takes inspiration from the latest knitwear fashion as seen on the runway at Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Yohji Yamamoto amongst others.”

Not to be confused with balayage, this blonde trend relies on traditional highlighting techniques. “While techniques like balayage are designed to create obvious contrast, especially between the roots and lengths of the hair, crochet blonde is designed to do the opposite,” she continues. “As a technique it reconnects with traditional foiling techniques rather than freehand, creating harmony between tones and textures.”

Christel notes that actress Gabriella Wilde and model Anna Ewers are excellent examples of crochet blonde, as you need a bit of length to be able to work the different tones through the hair. “Bob length through to longer hair is ideal for the effect to have a visual impact,” she says. “Your colourist will work with three to four different shades, using a double-ended foiling technique, which will allow these varying tones to blend in one single foil, starting from the roots through to the lengths.” 

If you’re blonde already, your colourist will easily be able to brighten strands and deposit warmth wherever it’s needed, while those with dark hair should expect a more lengthy process and multiple sessions in the colourist’s chair when going lighter. But, crucially, the beauty of crochet blonde is that “the blonde tones can also be tailor made to suit every skin tone and adjusted taking into account warm and cool undertones,” Christel says.

Needless to say, the advice for minimising the damage that taking the peroxide plunge causes remains the same no matter what your natural hair colour is. K18’s Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask features a patented peptide that is said to repair broken keratin bonds – in fact, in her review GLAMOUR’s associate beauty director swears that it changed her hair for the better overnight. 

To stay on top of your roots, crochet blonde strands require a refresh every eight to 10 weeks. But in between salon appointments, Christel recommends looking to shampoos designed to prolong the life of coloured hair. L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo is a cult favourite as it’s purse-friendly, nourishing and boasts UV filters to stave off fade. dpHUE Brightening Powder draws out any dulling minerals to keep your blonde bright, while purple shampoos such as Olaplex No.4P Blonde Enhancer Toning Shampoo will neutralise any brassiness. “Finally, be careful when using heated styling tools such as tongs, straighteners and hairdryers as a high heat can remove tone from blonde hair,” says Christel.