The Mohawk hairstyle has been around for centuries. Mohawk tribe warriors would cut all their hair except for a three inch strip in the middle of the head before going off to battle. In 2003 the well preserved remains of a man were found in a bog in Ireland. The corpse was over 2,000 years old. Clonycavan, as he’s been named, was sporting a Mohawk styled with gel made from plant oil and pine resin, imported from France or Spain.
The Mohawk was then worn by the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division during World War II. The year the Army first started deploying troops by having them jump from airplanes was the same year that the 1939 Paramount movie Geronimo was released. The troops picked the unique “Geronimo!” from the movie they had recently seen to yell to prove that they were tough as they jumped from the plane. The trend grew over the years to include patches and hats featuring the Indian chief and finally during World War II the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division started to paint their faces and cut their hair into Mohawks, against Army regulations.
The Mohawk first appeared in rock during the early punk scene in England. In 1976 Soo Catwoman, a close friend of the band the Sex Pistols, debuted her spiked haircut onto the punk scene. It was shaved down the middle, left longer on either side and spiked to resemble cat ears. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols singled her out as having “skill, style, and bravery”. She was admired by many in the scene and relentlessly imitated.
Punks started to experiment with their own hair and by 1979 the Mohawk was widespread throughout the US, England, and Europe. The Mohawk was most popular in the 80s, thanks to the help of Jonny Slut, from the English goth-punk band Specimen. He grew his Mohawk out very long and teased it out into a giant deathhawk on top of his head. American Punks started to use gelatin and Aquanet to spike their hair into liberty spikes like those on the crown of the statue of liberty. By the 90s the Mohawks popularity began to wane, however, the look remained popular in some form or another with punks, goths, and hipsters.
The newest innovation in the Mohawk was the fohawk. This style originated in the Hoxton neighborhood of London which is why it is also known as the Hoxton fin. This look doesn’t require any shaving. The sides of the hair are cut a little shorter than the top and the hair is slicked on the sides and spiked on the top. The look was shot into the pop culture stratosphere by David Beckham and Maddox, Angelina Jolie’s adopted son.
Photos by LiminalMike and Od.Photography on Flickr.
