The return of the iconic 1980s hairstyle

Mullet hairstyle - some will argue it never went out of fashion. Photo / Getty Images

It's baaack!

Men's hairstyles have evolved over the past few decades, from short back and sides to afros, curly bobs and bowl cuts. Most of these have been left in the past but there's one that seems to have crept its way back into fashion - the mullet.

It's got different names now - moo-lay, mully, business at the front party at the back. Whatever it gets called, the iconic 1980s cut can be seen on any given day here in Aotearoa, worn mostly by men, both young and old.

"You either love them or you hate them," says Hawke's Bay barber Jabez Makawe (Ngāti Kahungunu) who has become a social media star for a unique style of mullet he has dubbed "the firesh moolay".

"It's not like the old-school mullet. It's got a nice fade, and a nice lineup, but still filthy at the back."

Makawe has countless videos on TikTok of mullet transformations and tutorials and says each mullet has its own story.

The many looks of the iconic mullet hairstyle Source / Facebook / via Te Ao Māori News

"Some of my favourite mullets are the home jobs, the boys just sitting around and getting a mullet and it's rugged-as but every mullet has a story behind it. You can ask anyone who has one. They'll have a story as to why they have one."

Makawe creates 10 to 20 mullets per week at his store. Some people come from all over the motu but, if there is one thing that he has learned - is that the mullet is not for everyone.

"This isn't just a haircut, it's a lifestyle - some of you aren't cut out for it, some of you get it for one week, and then it's gone. Some of you get one and then tell me your missus made you cut it off. You were never meant for it bro!

"For you fellas still going strong. It was meant for you! You're about it."