Hailey Bieber has revived the zigzag headband, the inexpensive comb accessory that defined late-1990s and early-2000s hair, after wearing it three times in an Instagram carousel shared on Wednesday, 29 July 2026. The Rhode founder styled the black plastic band across casual, workout and off-duty looks, giving the practical throwback a fresh It-girl endorsement.
The exact brand worn by Bieber has not been publicly identified, but British shoppers can recreate the look with Urban Outfitters' £10 zigzag headband.
Its long, wavy plastic teeth pull the hair away from the face while creating the accessory's instantly recognisable rippled effect. Bieber captioned her summer photo collection '2nd leg of summer', placing the headband alongside bikinis, low-rise denim, kitten heels, narrow sunglasses and wired earphones.
A '90s Relic Becomes an Everyday Staple
Bieber did not style the headband as a one-off costume reference. In one mirror selfie, the model and beauty entrepreneur wore it with her newly cut shoulder-length hair left loose, while another image showed the band holding her hair back during exercise.
A third look paired it with tiny sunglasses and wired earphones, turning an ordinary functional accessory into the centre of a deliberately nostalgic outfit.
The headband's appeal is rooted in its simplicity. Unlike padded Alice bands or embellished clips, the zigzag version is made to disappear into the hair while its teeth create small sections at the hairline.
Urban Outfitters describes its £10 version as an everyday accessory with 'long, wavy teeth for a stylish slicked-back look', while the product is made entirely from plastic.
From School-Bag Essential to Luxury Runway
The accessory was once associated with school bags, bathroom drawers and the casual celebrity styling of the late '90s and early Noughties. Keira Knightley wore the look as footballer Jules Paxton in Bend It Like Beckham, while David Beckham also made the comb headband part of his early-2000s image.
More recently, Bella Hadid wore a version on the Prabal Gurung runway, and Alexa Demie's Euphoria character Maddy Perez helped introduce the silhouette to a younger audience.
Its return has now moved beyond celebrity street style. Bieber previously wore the accessory at the FIFA World Cup Final in New York New Jersey Stadium on 19 July, before appearing in Miu Miu's Autumn/Winter 2026 campaign with model Xiao Wen Ju. The luxury label has also released a black metal and calfskin version priced at €390, describing its discreet logo as an 'iconic, contemporary accent'.
The £10 Version Keeps the Trend Accessible
The contrast between the plastic high-street version and Miu Miu's runway interpretation is part of what makes the revival notable. Bieber's recent outfits do not depend on visible branding, meaning the effect can be recreated without purchasing the luxury edition. The £10 Urban Outfitters option uses the same basic visual language, a dark curved band, elongated teeth and a close fit against the scalp.
The headband also fits Bieber's wider shift towards pared-back '90s styling. Her recent summer wardrobe has included low-rise jeans, simple black separates, kitten heels and oval sunglasses, while her Gap collaboration reworked denim linked to her 1996 birth year. Bieber said she draws inspiration from the decade because 'there was something so effortless about that era and the way people wore denim'.
@oliviadaytonn Living in these on dirty hair day #hairhowto #90sheadband #90shair #90shairstyle #headband #zigzagheadband ♬ welcome back queen serena - .
For shoppers, the result is a celebrity-backed trend with an unusually low entry price. The accessory works with loose hair, buns and workout styling, and it does not require heat tools or a complicated tutorial.
After years dominated by polished slicked-back buns, Bieber's zigzag headband offers a less severe way to keep hair off the face while still signalling that the '90s revival is nowhere near finished.
