Tyler Kolek was photographed with a mid-length cut and a 90s-style middle part two days after becoming an NBA champion, and that hairstyle fits the longer-hair turn GQ says is building for 2026. The same report puts the baby mullet, the full mullet, the mid-length middle part, and grown-out curly hair at the center of men’s style next year.
GQ and Sami Knight
Sami Knight said longer hair has become another way for men to express individuality rather than maintain a uniform, and the advice runs against the old fade-heavy default. “Patience is genuinely the technique,” Knight said, which is the practical starting point for anyone growing hair out instead of trying to force it into shape too early.
That patience shows up in the awkward middle ground, which Knight described as “That ear covering, slightly shaggy length where you’re clearly past a haircut but not yet at a style.” The workable range is about three to six inches, and the maintenance is simple in theory: keep trimming the edges so the cut reads deliberate rather than overdue.
Connor Storrie and Oscar Isaac
Connor Storrie showed up to the 2026 Golden Globes with a grungy mini mullet, while Oscar Isaac appeared in the second season of Beef with a similarly grown out-out do. GQ also ties the look to a broader 2026 move away from tighter, cleaner cuts and toward fuller shapes, with appearances around Paris Fashion Week and Wimbledon helping push the style in public view.
The baby mullet barely kisses the back of the neck and usually does not feature shaved sides, which keeps it closer to a controlled grow-out than a throwback costume. Knight’s framing is blunt: “This is the shape with real weight and intention behind it, not a throwback joke,” and “On the right man it says confident enough to commit to something divisive.”
Glen Powell and curly hair
Glen Powell’s current hair is about the same length all over, which gives the trend another lane beyond the mullet family. Knight also points to grown-out curly hair as its own category, saying to “work with the hair’s natural pattern instead of fighting it,” because once curls grow more than a couple inches, their own pattern starts dictating the cut.
The cleanest takeaway for readers is that 2026 men’s hair is less about a single shape than about controlled length. The styles on GQ’s list reward restraint, regular edge trims, and enough patience to let the middle stage pass without turning it into an accident.
