Hair today, legend tomorrow: attendee at Denmark's Mullet Championship looks on in Copenhagen, Saturday 6June 2026. Photograph: James Brooks/APHair today, legend tomorrow: attendee at Denmark's Mullet Championship looks on in Copenhagen, Saturday 6June 2026. Photograph: James Brooks/AP‘Ugly in a beautiful way’: Denmark’s Mullet Championship celebrates divisive hairstyleDanish follicle rebels go head to head in competition for best short-in-the-front long-in-the-back cut
Business in the front, party in the back. A packed Danish crowd has celebrated the much-maligned but enduring mullet hairstyle, defined by very short hair at the front and longer hair at the back.
Denmark’s raucous 2026 Mullet Championship, presented on an outdoor stage in central Copenhagen, attracted 12 well-coiffed competitors and more than 1,000 spectators.
Organiser Steffen Stiw Weber, a 37-year-old electrician, said the championships began after he had a hair transplant and chose to grow a mullet. “I think in our culture, when everything must … be perfect on social media and everything like that, I think that’s why people have to stand out from the crowd,” said Stiw Weber.
Competitor Martin Sedolf performs as character pro wrestler Benny Bacchus at Denmark's Mullet Championship. Photograph: James Brooks/APCompetitors in Saturday’s championships were evaluated on their cuts’ style, uniqueness, and overall performance and “mullet moves”, said judge Bobby Agren.
Contestants were given 60 seconds each to perform on stage to showcase their cuts.
“I like the finesse, the twist, the nostalgia. I like it if it looks ridiculous or maybe ugly in a beautiful way,” said Agren, who owns two hair salons in Copenhagen.
The event featured an array of exhuberant performances, including beer-swilling and body-popping. One competitor even wore a mullet haircut styled to resemble the Danish flag. The crowd screamed and chanted.
The judges displaying their mullet ratings Photograph: James Brooks/APFortythree-year-old construction worker Thomas Berg eventually took home the top prize after wowing judges by frantically jumping on a trampoline while clad in neon-green gym wear. He completed his mullet haircut with an orange headband. “I think it’s just funny. It’s just a big party,” said a smiling Berg after collecting his prize. “It’s just nice to be a bit outside the box.”
Though mullets have likely been around longer than there have been barbers, the Oxford English Dictionary cites hip-hop legends the Beastie Boys for helping popularise the term mullet with the song Mullet Head on their 1994 album Ill Communication.
The short-in-the-front, long-in-the-back coiffure was popularised by ice hockey players and 1980s musicians, but later fell out of favour. Fashion magazine Vogue reportedly once described the mullet as “history’s most divisive hairstyle.”
Competitors at Denmark's Mullet Championship in Copenhagen Photograph: James Brooks/APBut in recent years, the mullet has seen a global resurgence – British magazine i-D declared 2020 “the year of the mullet” as the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered hair salons and lockdown-weary citizens let their locks flow.
Numerous mullet competitions are now staged around the world. Belgium hosted the European Mullet Cup last month. “It comes back every 20-30 years. There’s always a circular motion in fashion,” said Agren.
Explore more on these topicsShareReuse this content
