Coco Rocha’s Dramatic Hair Transformation

It’s the model’s first time going blonde

At only 28-years-old, Coco Rocha is a veteran in the modeling industry. She’s walked down nearly every runway, starred in nearly every campaign, and even launched her own clothing line and model agency along the way. But the one thing she has never done in her 14-year career is dye her hair blonde. That all changed last week. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s all welcome Rocha to the platinum hair club.

“I have wanted to go blonde forever,” confessed Rocha, who chatted to Bazaar US exclusively during her campaign shoot for Balmain Hair Couture, for which she bleached her hair for the very first time (see above and below). “It is the one hair colour I haven’t had the chance to do,” says the model. “I’ve done red, black, I’ve done dusty blonde, rosy red. But I have never had the chance to bleach my hair blonde.” Rocha says she’s been considering the colour for nearly five years. “Weirdly enough in my 14 years of modelling, I’ve only worn a blonde wig three times. I have no idea why I’ve never been given the option to really try blonde as a model. But here I am doing it on my own.“

The man behind the colour and cut is Parisian Nabil Harlow, Balmain Hair’s Creative Director (nice gig, right?). He spent eight hours with Rocha last week lifting her colour from reddish brown to icy blonde for the campaign. The two passed the time by discussing how platinum hair changes everything—from the clothes you wear to how people perceive you. “It definitely affects the way people see me. Even on the train today, I don’t know if people we’re thinking: is that Coco in a wig or what?” says the model. “I am literally learning 101 of my hair right now.” And don’t expect her hair to stay in the new blunt bob for very long. Rocha and Harlow are already plotting to take her shorter. “I’ve always been the type that every few months I’m like, let’s change the haircut one more time,” says Rocha. “I think hair is meant to have fun with. I’m that type of person that loves change.”

Rocha was one of the first supermodels to fully embrace social media, but keeping her new hair a secret from her followers has been “frustrating” and “annoying.” (If you’ve been waiting five years to go blonde, you’d feel the same way.) She was even spotted wearing a black wig and hat to an event in New York City last week. “I can’t say that blondes have more fun yet, but it’s a lot more fun right now to play around. I feel like I’m a little kid.”

In person, Rocha maintains a calm energy that never waivers—even when she’s being hoisted into a tasseled Balmain mini dress or getting her eyebrows dyed nearly black. “I’ve always been the kind of girl that takes everyday as it comes,” she says. “I never thought this was going to be my career. I thought it would be a summer job and I would return back home.” So what’s next for the model/mogul? Rocha plans to expand her clothing line Co+Co and serve as a mentor at her talent agency NoMad. “I’m working with young, new models and helping them with their careers,” she says. “It’s a chance to really help somebody start, a girl from the middle of America, who might be the next big thing. All of that is really exciting to me.”

Watch below for more of Rocha’s best beauty tips, tricks, and secrets, plus get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the Balmain Hair Couture campaign.