The Nostalgic Inspiration Behind the Glitched Hair Look GDY Co-Founder Brian O’Connor Just Created for Hayley Williams

You *may* have seen Hayley’s latest look — you know the one that looks straight out of a video game or an anime, with heavy purple bangs, neon blue and green face-framing pieces, blue braids, and ultra-vivid pink tips  — and think that you haven’t seen anything like it on her before. 

To Hayley and Brian, playing around with their newest collection of ultra-vivid neon shades, Glitched, has actually somewhat been a blast from the past. Celebrity hair stylist & color expert Brian O’Connor playfully jokes, “We haven’t seen her in a while!” upon revealing the super-saturated, high-energy final look… so, have we seen this look before?

Let’s start from the beginning.

When GDY Co-Founders Brian O’Connor & Hayley Williams first started collaborating as friends, they eventually created what would become known as “the look that started it all” AKA the iconic bright orange Riot look that defined Hayley’s breakout rise to fame with Paramore’s second studio album. At that time, Hayley & Brian “shared inspiration, and a lot of that was based on Tokyo street style.” 

Fast forward to the present, Hayley is sitting in Brian’s salon chair once again, as she has done so many times throughout her career, and sharing that, “Brian has been sending her photos and sketches and pinterest boards and things that have been inspiring him, and they’ve had this energy that reminds me so much of when we first met.”

In other words, life — as it so often does — has come full circle! As Brian perfects his final touches, Hayley watched the visions of his sketches and text messages come to life in a beautiful, unexpected way: “I love seeing Brian come alive again and have all these new ideas and it feels weirdly connected to where we started but an entirely new experience of ourselves as adults, kind of like staying true to who we are in a new way.”

At Good Dye Young, we always say we are founded on friendship — and this nostalgic moment of creative collaboration is a perfect reminder of Brian & Hayley’s beautiful synergy. When they come together to create something new, exciting, energetic, and innovative, one thing always remains the same: they are “just connecting the way [they] always have as friends.”