I deserve this freedom”: at 54, Adriana Karembeu goes for the bold pixie cut
Cutting off hair that has defined your public image for decades is far more than a routine salon appointment. For Adriana Karembeu, this radical move marks a deliberate break with an image that was carefully engineered for the runway, and a step into a freedom she is claiming fully at 54.
When a haircut becomes an act of freedom for Adriana Karembeu
For years, her long platinum-blonde mane was an integral part of her “commercial value”, as she revealed to Sonia Devillers on France Inter‘s Le Grand portrait, on 5 March 2026. She was repeatedly told that her hair accounted for nearly 20% of her overall look. In other words, those locks were not simply an aesthetic choice, they were a professional tool, a carefully calculated component of her public persona.
Today, the Slovak model has made the cut, quite literally. She has gone for a very short pixie, with shaved temples and nape. She owns the decision without hesitation: “I think I deserve this small freedom of choosing the cut I actually like.” She also makes clear that nothing was premeditated. The choice came naturally, with no crisis or illness behind it, just a desire for lightness.
Nor was it an overnight transformation. Since 2025, the change has happened in stages: first a bob, then an increasingly bold pixie. Each salon visit brought the former Wonderbra icon closer to a version of herself she is choosing entirely for her own sake.
The hairdresser, the technique and the story behind a striking transformation
To take this step, Adriana Karembeu turned to hairdresser Théo Bartolomé. He shared, in a message reported by Purepeople, that the experience would stay with him forever, whatever one thinks of the result, a remark that speaks volumes about the intensity of the moment.
On the technical side, experts interviewed by the Journal des Femmes describe a pixie built on three key elements:
- A textured crown to add volume and movement
- Very clean sides, with shaved temples and nape
- A colour chosen to catch the light
- A cut designed to highlight the facial features
This kind of cut demands real technical precision. Far from being a default choice, Adriana‘s pixie is the result of careful, considered work, tailored to reflect who she is right now.
A new romantic chapter that mirrors the transformation
The short cut tells more than a story about scissors. It coincides with a major personal turning point: life alongside Marc Lavoine. The Journal des Femmes notes that Adriana Karembeu’s first bob appeared at the same time as this new romantic beginning.
On France Inter, she recalls crossing paths with the singer nearly 27 years ago on a television set. The moment she saw him, she thought: “That man is for me.” She had no concrete expectations at the time, but she now says with a smile that she is “very patient.” The anecdote says a great deal about her approach to life: calm, unhurried, without forcing anything.
In this context, the physical transformation takes on a deeper meaning. It cannot be separated from the inner journey she has made. The lightness she claims in her haircut echoes the peace she describes in her life.
A book and a self-image rebuilt far from the catwalk
Alongside this visible metamorphosis, Adriana Karembeu has published a book with Leduc entitled Je t’aime parce que je t’aime et voilà tout. In it, she writes about a calming love, without ever naming the man who shares her life. The focus is firmly on inner peace, far more than on appearances.
This editorial choice mirrors her new cut. For years, she embodied what she herself describes as a “big Barbie”: tall, blonde, full-figured, an image calibrated for the catwalk. Today, she is turning the page on that representation. Her short hair after 50 becomes, in her own words, a very visible reflection of this rediscovered freedom.
Faced with any controversy about her age or her femininity, Adriana Karembeu seems above all relieved. On France Inter, she says with a broad smile: “I’m absolutely loving it.” A short sentence, but one that perfectly captures the mindset of a woman who has chosen to tell her own story differently, at 54, without trying to convince anyone of anything.
