Dakota Johnson is reliable when it comes to personal style. While other celebrities will change their aesthetic week-to-week, Johnson knows what she likes and sticks to it. In fact, she's so consistent that I often feel the characters she plays are an extension of herself, fashion-wise at least. The outfits Johnson wears in Celine Song's 2025 romantic drama, Materialists, feel like the costume designer walked into the actress's own closet. So with all that on the table, I was surprised when the Fifty Shades of Grey star attended the TIME100 Gala with a new hair color that feels like it was pulled from Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's playbook.
Dakota Johnson's Hair Transformation Was Inspired by…CBK?!
Subtle
Published Apr 30, 2026
•5:21pm
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The actress's colorist, Tracey Cunningham, was behind Johnson's subtle transformation from brunette to dirty blonde, a shade for which CBK was famous. While Johnson kept the tones darker and muted, there was an unmistakable lightness as the camera flashes fired on the red carpet.
Of the new look, Cunningham told Vogue, "It’s a soft, low-contrast blonde that blends cool, creamy tones with a subtle brunette undertone at the root. It’s not overly bright or high-maintenance. Instead, it has a diffused, dimensional quality that feels very natural and expensive."
Johnson stepped out at the event as an honoree; her friend Taylor Swift wrote her TIME profile. Of the actress, the pop star wrote: "As her friend, I can vouch for her realness, but add that she's also one of the most empathetic people I've ever known...She can't stop asking people questions about their lives, endlessly curious about everyone else's human experience. She can't stop challenging herself, taking newer and bolder risks...Captivating in front of the screen and inquisitive behind it, her unfailing truthfulness helps to shape her ever evolving storytelling into art that feels as real and timeless as she is."
