What’s the difference between fashion and trend?
What is really the difference between fashion and trend? Fashion is the bigger shift, the one that shapes an entire era and leaves its mark on a whole generation. Fashion is often tied to society at large – to culture, politics, and lifestyle. Think of the revolutionary hairstyles of the 60s, the volume of the 80s, or the minimalist colors of the 90s.
But fashion is also something that is usually decided from above. A fashion house, a fashion council, or an influential designer sets the tone for the season. Fashion is generally shorter – one or two seasons – and closely linked to what is shown on the catwalk, driven by the industry.
A trend, on the other hand, often grows from below. It might be a celebrity trying something new, or ordinary people on the street picking it up, adapting it, and spreading the idea. A trend can sometimes feel more authentic because it reflects what people actually want. It can also last longer than fashion, and in some cases develop into something that becomes a natural part of everyday life for many years.
Trends are often born from social media, a celebrity, or a new technique. Money piece, face framing, glass hair – you know yourself how quickly these can take over our feeds.
Unlike fashion, which arrives clearly at a given season, a trend can appear at different times in different places. What explodes in New York or London may take months, sometimes years, before it truly reaches smaller towns or other countries.
But in the hairdressing world today, these concepts have started to blur. We see the same long blonde hair with highlights and balayage again and again. And I can’t help but ask: is this really fashion? Is it a trend? Or is it simply that we can’t – or don’t dare – do anything else?
When we get stuck in the same track
I have nothing against highlights or balayage – on the contrary, they can be fantastic techniques. But when 80% of what we see on social media looks the same, then we must ask ourselves: what happened to the breadth of our craft?
We are creatives, yet we often end up delivering more or less the same thing to every client. Because it feels safe. Because it’s what the client asks for. Or because we haven’t trained ourselves enough in other solutions.
But what if we instead saw each client as an opportunity to create something new – something that suits their hair, skin tone, style, and lifestyle? Always choosing highlights just because it “works on everyone” is a bit like serving the same dish to every guest in a restaurant. It fills the stomach – but it’s never memorable.
And this is dangerous – not only for our creativity, but also for our economy. Because these treatments – highlights and balayage – are techniques designed to last. That’s why clients have learned that they don’t need to come back as often. They’ve grown accustomed to a service that, at its core, reduces our continuity.
So here we need to dare to ask ourselves an uncomfortable question: Am I a hairdresser who follows the pattern, or a hairdresser who creates new possibilities?
And maybe we also need to answer the bigger question: When did balayage become fashion, when did it become a trend – and when did it become our only solution?
Was it Covid that changed everything? When clients couldn’t go to the salon for several months, they got used to hair that actually looked okay for a long time. And once they discovered how convenient it was not to run to the salon every six weeks – it became a habit. A habit that still remains for many today.
This doesn’t mean balayage is “wrong.” But it does mean that we need to understand how we ourselves, perhaps unintentionally, helped shape a client behavior that now backfires on our own profitability.
When the client doesn’t come as often
When balayage and the “lowlights” trend broke through, the entire behavior of clients changed. Suddenly they were told that their color could last a long time. And it’s true – a well-done balayage or lowlights can absolutely last 3–6 months.
But what did this mean for us as hairdressers? It meant that clients no longer booked as frequently. They went from every six weeks to every twelve. On paper, it looked great for the client – more time, less cost. But for us, it meant half the revenue from the same client.
I often meet hairdressers who say that bookings have decreased, that clients don’t want to spend as much money, or that they’ve simply disappeared. And yes, it can feel that way. But often it isn’t because clients lost interest in color – it’s because we ourselves sold services that make them need to come less often.
We are even the ones reinforcing the behavior. How often do we see posts on social media where hairdressers proudly show off a balayage that “still looks fantastic – six months later”? Of course the client then thinks: “Why should I book earlier, when the hairdresser themselves says it lasts that long?”
A simple calculation
Let’s make it concrete:
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A client pays $250 for their color treatment.
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If the client comes every 1.5 months (8 times/year) → $2,000 per year.
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If the client instead comes every 3 months (4 times/year) → $1,000 per year.
Same client. Same work each time. But you’ve lost half the revenue – $1,000 from just one client.
Now imagine it’s not just one client, but twenty. That’s $20,000 per year.
That’s like saying no to a full-time salary – without even noticing it, because the client is still there. She’s sitting in your chair, just as happy as always. The difference is that she’s only there half as often.
And it can get even tougher.
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If the client instead only comes 3 times a year → $750 per year.
Then it’s not half your income you lose – it’s $1,250. From just one client.
Now imagine it’s not just one. If twenty clients change their habits this way, we’re talking about $20,000–$25,000 per year.
That’s up to $25,000 a year—gone, even though the clients are still there and still love your work.
So the real question becomes: how do we close that gap – by raising prices, or by finding more clients?
Have we become comfortable?
Many hairdressers say they don’t have the time. But the truth is that many today actually have more free time than before. We just don’t fill it.
Why? Maybe because we’ve become comfortable. Maybe because we stopped being active in finding new clients. Maybe because we wait for clients to come to us, instead of reaching out to them.
And another factor is how we work today compared to before. Previously we often had several clients going at once – someone sitting with color while we cut another. Today it’s increasingly common that we only take one client at a time. Health-wise, it can be better – calmer pace, more focus, less stress. But financially, it becomes a loss if we don’t raise prices, because suddenly we have fewer paying clients per day.
So here we must be honest: our schedules are not thinning out because people stopped coloring their hair. They’re thinning out because we’re not working as actively to fill them.
So we’re left with a choice:
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Raise prices and compensate for fewer bookings.
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Or start working strategically to build up a new client base, with new types of services and new ways to package our work.
The question is: can we afford to do nothing at all?
Fashion, trend – or knowledge?
Fashion and trend can be inspiring, but they can also become a trap. When we get stuck in everyone having the same look, we lose our breadth. We lose the chance to show clients that color can be so much more than highlights.
Maybe it’s not more foils we need. Maybe it’s not another balayage. Maybe it’s instead more ways to use our knowledge. More options for clients. More variation in our work.
Because if we build our business solely on fashion and trends – then we’re building on something fleeting. But if we build on knowledge – then we’re building something that lasts.
Conclusion
We hairdressers are both craftsmen and entrepreneurs. That means we can’t only think about technique – we also have to think about profitability.
So the next time you book a client, ask yourself: What am I doing today that strengthens both my creativity and my economy?
Because in the end, it’s not the trend or the fashion that decides your success. It’s you – and how you use your knowledge.
Here, education becomes crucial. Not the quick fixes we see in our feeds, but knowledge that creates security, variety, and new opportunities. With the right education – like Become A Better Colorist – we can build a daily life where we grow both creatively and financially.
And maybe we need to ask ourselves the uncomfortable question:
Have we created a fashion that makes our own businesses less profitable?
/Camilla Rörstrand