Michelle Yeo’s new coiffure shows she has gone big on Auntiecore

Michelle Yeoh in a new Balenciaga image to promote the new tote. Photo: Balenciaga

Michelle Yeoh, we can now be sure, loves a good hair challenge. Since her appointment as Balenciaga’s brand ambassador (also deceptively referred to as “friend” of the house), she has gone through several hair makeovers. We remember at least three. And now, for the launch of the brand’s new S$7,450/S$10,900 Bel Air tote (medium/XL)), Ms Yeoh has allowed her hair to be restyled again. This time, it is a total departure from the previous attractive wavy bob, first seen at the Balenciaga spring 2025 in Putong, Shanghai. Away from all that, Balenciaga has made her cut and then 电头发 (dian tou fa) perm her hair. But not just any new-fangled K-perm. Now, the old waves have bloated to curls, teased higher than Aunty Lucy’s. 极美 (ji mei), how lovely!

This could also be looking back at Ms Yeoh’s past, just as her infamous aluminum-wrap dress for this year’s Met Gala was supposedly Demna Gvasalia reminiscing the time when he used tin foil to make dresses for his sister’s dolls. Ms Yeoh’s pouffy curls, could, therefore, be tribute to the small town look of her Ipoh or the aunty townfolk who adore the fashion store Dolly. The Oscar winner had said to People after the Met Gala: “Working with Demna, it’s the whole [look]. It’s not just a dress. It’s the jewellery, it’s the hair…” So they were not going to spare her. But the big-enough-for-a-moneylender Bel Air that she is engaged to promote is not quite the matronly style that her hair suggests. Forgive us. We could only smell the ammonia. That, and the Helene Curtis hair spray.