We need to talk about Elon Musk’s hair

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery puts the increase down to minimal invasive techniques, usually taking no more than a day. And, of course, the interest men, (who make up around 85 per cent of clients) now have in self-care practices.

Blame the surge in dating websites, blame social media and the beauty industry, which has done a hard pivot into men’s cosmetics. Business data platform Statista estimates that by 2024, the global male grooming market will be worth about US$81.2 billion. That’s a lot of beard oil.

And although Musk took the hair transplant route, outside of Hollywood, he appears to be in the minority. Fellow space enthusiast Jeff Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, has a shiny, hairless pate. Prince William, our future king, has taken to shaving his remaining locks, while his brother, Prince Harry, has recently said he is resigned to baldness. The royals, it must be said, are not really allowed to seem vain, lest they be crucified by the press. Duty before beauty and all that.

But if Botox can be normalised among women, why not hair transplants among men?

Perhaps the answer to that question lies not in the uptake of cosmetic procedures – which are increasingly more common – but the admission that people have had them. While women are still being admonished for their vanity, we can’t really blame men, who historically have been expected not to care about such frivolity, for wanting to keep a lid on what they do to their (lack of) hair.

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