The ‘Modern Roller Set’ Is Going Viral for Creating Big, Bouncy Waves This Summer

Thought hair rollers were an outdated way to achieve bouncy, voluminous hair? Think again. The “modern roller set”—a.k.a. a fresh twist on the shampoo and set, is the latest hairstyle to go viral online.

Case in point: Girls, trudging through the field at Glastonbury, with their hair artfully tucked into rollers and pin curls, even made it onto BBC News, with one festival goer explaining that “pin curls will keep my hair looking nice for a day or two,” while another told a reporter that she was maintaining her curls with a “silk bonnet and a hair wrap.”

It’s a similar story at Wimbledon this week as bouncy, retro curls are out in force around Centre Court.

Big, voluminous hair is officially back and it’s a far cry from the undone, low-maintenance looks that we’ve made our calling card over the past few years. So what’s driving the trend?

In a nutshell: pop culture. “We’re in an era of hyper-femininity,” says hairstylist Melissa Timperley. “Setting your hair plays into that coquette aesthetic that’s all about softness, curves and timeless beauty and we’re seeing it on the red carpet and in TikTok tutorials. Plus, there’s something empowering about reclaiming a style that was once seen as ‘old-fashioned’ and giving it a contemporary twist.”

The modern roller set is a great example of the current “nostalgia wave in beauty,” Timperley continues. “It taps into that old-school glamour, which never really dies. Think ’90s supermodels, ’60s sirens or even your nan getting her weekly wash and set.”

Celebrities such as Lana Del Rey, Selena Gomez, and Hailey Bieber are also driving the trend. Hairstylist and trends forecaster Tom Smith credits Sabrina Carpenter and ’90s icon Cindy Crawford, in particular, for making the modern set cool, while a GRWM TikTok video by Raye, where she’s wearing her hair in rollers, went viral with a cool 1.8 million views.