Zendaya's New Pixie Is Giving '90s, But There's One Detail That Makes It Extremely 2026

Zendaya has never met a hairstyle she couldn’t pull off. And now, the actress has officially entered her pixie era. The star first showed off her dramatically shorter cut this past weekend at New York Fashion Week, appearing at a Prada Paradoxe event with a closely cropped back and a crown full of soft, fluffy curls. Days later, she switched things up again for the 2026 Emmys, where hairstylist Coree Moreno transformed the crop into a sleeker, more sculpted pixie to complement her crystal-covered custom Prada gown.

Almost immediately, comparisons to Halle Berry started rolling in, and understandably so. Zendaya’s side-swept, piece-y pixie bears a striking resemblance to the short styles Berry made famous in the ’90s. Even the rest of Zendaya’s beauty look leaned into the era. Makeup artist Ernesto Casillas says her frosty and satin makeup was inspired by late-’90s red-carpet glam. But the texture is keeping Zendaya’s cut from feeling like a complete ’90s cosplay. 

Rather than shellacking every strand into place, Moreno kept the top airy and separated. “For Zendaya, the inspiration is a classic pixie reimagined through a modern, editorial lens,” Moreno says. He wanted the silhouette to feel “feminine and refined with a little rebellion,” combining a sleek perimeter with piece-y texture and controlled volume at the crown.

To get the look, Moreno worked in small sections, bending pieces in alternating directions rather than creating identical waves. He then used his fingers to separate individual pieces around the crown and fringe. 

The modern pixie isn’t necessarily about having perfectly slick, closely cropped hair. It can be curly. It can be fluffy. It can be sculpted. And, it can go from Fashion Week to the Emmys without looking remotely the same twice. So yes, Zendaya’s new pixie is giving Halle Berry. But the airy, imperfect texture keeps it firmly planted in the present day.

If you already have the pixie, recreating Zendaya’s airy texture is pretty straightforward. Moreno started by blow-drying the hair with the ghd Speed to establish the overall pixie shape. Once dry, he reached for the ghd Sculpt to lift, bend and redirect individual pieces of hair. Rather than styling everything in the same direction, Moreno alternated the bends throughout, which kept the texture from looking too uniform. He also lifted sections at the root, concentrating on the crown until it looked exaggerated and airy.

As a final step, Moreno used his fingertips to pinch and separate pieces throughout the crown and fringe, creating that deliberately undone finish.