Helen Mirren, 78, Debuts Daring Hair Transformation in New Runway Photos

• Helen Mirren wore volumized platinum blonde crimped hair at Paris Fashion Week.
• She walked alongside Elle Fanning at L’Oréal’s runway show.
• This is one of many dramatic hair transformations the actress has debuted on the catwalk.

Helen Mirren is known for her runway and red carpet hair transformations—and her Paris Fashion Week look was no exception. The Golda star walked the runway with L’Oréal (as a brand ambassador) wearing a silver off-the-shoulder gown and seriously volumized crimped platinum blonde hair.

The disco ball-esque dress by Elie Saab featured floor-length sleeves with slits that revealed Mirren’s arms, and her iridescent hair complemented it perfectly. The mane was styled with voluminous texture and undone frizz, which billowed behind her effortlessly as she pranced down the catwalk. Letting the dress and hair do the heavy lifting, she forewent accessories other than a pair of contrasting metallic strappy gold heels.

For makeup, Mirren wore a shimmery smokey eye, bronzed skin, and pink lips. She also appeared to be doused with highlighter from head to toe so that she was as reflective as her gown. Her runway partner, Elle Fanning, wore metal shades of gold and champagne.

Mirren’s hair transformation comes after the 78-year-old donned a towering blue updo at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Her natural shade of frosty gray, which she also loves to embrace, seems to allow the actress to easily make overnight changes. In fact, she rocked a similar platinum shade earlier this year at the Golda premiere.

In 2021, she told Vogue that going gray was “easy” for her. “My hair was always blonde. I was a natural blonde, and although it was quite dark at times, in the summertime when I’d spent time in the sun, it would basically go white,” she said. “So the process of me losing the color of my hair was very easy—it just looked more and more as if I had been in the sun, but year-round.”

As for her fellow silver-haired actresses, she enthusiastically supports their varying hair transition journeys. “Going gray is to be encouraged—that’s not to say you can’t have fun with your hair, because it’s a very important part of how you feel about yourself. People should do whatever makes them feel comfortable,” she told Vogue.

And for her, that’s embracing her natural hues, yet using their versatility to switch things up when she can—Paris Fashion Week included.

Kayla Blanton

Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.