From her bowl cut in “La Boum” to her gradient bob in 2024: the story behind Sophie Marceau’s signature cut

We are in 1980 and Sophie Marceau, 14 years old, bursts onto the screen in The Boom. A film that has become cult, and which also highlights the young actress's unique haircut. Half bob, half bowl cut, it becomes his hair signature. In recent years, many hairdressers have offered him revisited versions to continue to perpetuate his style.

The bowl cut of Sophie Marceau, the other cult character of “La Boum”

The man behind Vic Berreton's haircut – his character in The Boom – it's Jean-Marc Maniatis, trained by the great Vidal Sassoon. The latter, known for graphic cuts inspired by the Bauhaus movement, had taught him the art of structured haircuts during an internship.

For the young Sophie Marceau, he made a bob with fringe that looked like a bowl cut. At the time, the teenager's cut was a hit and young French women all asked their hairdressers for “Vic's” bob.

A signature cut that lasts through the years and adapts to each era. To come back better. In April 2024, Sophie Marceau poses on the cover of Vogue. The desire to revive this cut became obvious to the team in charge of the shoot.

“With Jonathan, the stylist, and Quentin, the photographer, we thought it would be a good idea to recreate this legendary cut that she wears in her first film and which immediately evokes nostalgia in us, tells the magazine hairdresser Joseph Pujalte.Sophie liked the idea, she was up for it. I first thought of doing it with a wig, but ultimately, I managed to recreate it with her own hair by blow-drying it, then by re-doing it. all the edges are ironed to simulate a graphic cut, directly linked to the heritage of Vidal Sassoon”.

A revisited square, ever more modernized

A few months later, Sophie Marceau made an appearance at the Balenciaga show during Paris Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2025. Dressed in an outfit and sunglasses full blackthe former James Bond girl returns with her cult bob, but in a decidedly more modern style. A cut imagined this time by hairdresser Adrien Coelho.

“It is a gradient square, slightly stone around the face to be able to adapt it to different types of styling. The gradient, almost invisible, brings a certain lightness and there is also all this work around the face which is slightly rounded“, he confides to Marie Claire.

Sophie Marceau is definitely not ready to let go of this layered bob with fringe. At the same time, when you manage to “find your hair identity, you keep it,” concludes the hairdresser. Afterwards, we play more or less with the length et we adapt it to the spirit of the times.”