Best Actor nominee Steven Yeun attended last night’s Academy Awards ceremony wearing a classic tuxedo and taking inspiration from a classic Asian film for his glam. The Minari actor made history as the first Asian American to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor — and his dapper hairstyle pays tribute to his heritage.
According to hairdresser Anh Co Tran, who is responsible for creating Yeun's Oscars style, the hair takes direct inspiration from Wong Kar-wai’s romantic drama In The Mood For Love, specifically the starring character of Chow Mo-wan, portrayed by Tony Leung. It's a fitting homage as both Yeun and Leung received critical acclaim for their roles, Yeun with an Oscar nomination and Leung earning a Best Actor award at Cannes. In The Mood For Love, which came out in 2000, is set in British Hong Kong in 1962, which totally explains why the hair has such a timeless, throwback feel to it.
Tran completed the look with the help of Dyson hot tools and a few sculpting products by Milbon. To prep, he applied a Weightless Replenishing Mist and a single pump of Luminous Softening Oil all over Yeun’s hair to provide the key combination of moisture and heat protection. Next, he roughly dried his hair halfway using Dyson's Supersonic hair dryer. Once partially dried, Tran added the concentrator nozzle to smooth and straighten Yeun’s hair up and away from his face. After creating this base, he took the Corrale straightener to smooth just the ends of Yeun’s hair. He styled the dry hair with Milbon's Wave Enhancing Mousse, Molding Wax, and a small amount of Wet Shine Gel Cream to provide both texture and shine. Finally, to make sure that Yeun's hair stayed perfectly-coiffed through the evening, Tran set it with Strong Hold Hairspray.
Here's hoping Yeun’s debonair hairstyle is the start of many '60s throwback styles to come. After all, they are timeless for a reason.