Rock-chick retro brings fringe benefits for La Moss

Scissors at the ready. For Kate Moss, who is to many still the queen of British style, has decreed that it is time for a chop. The model-turned-fashion designer has opted to evoke her younger self by getting rid of her straggly, centre-parted hairstyle for a chunky new fringe. Not since the former Friends star Jennifer Aniston unleashed the "Rachel" on the industry have hairdressers been so excited.

Girls – and women – have been queuing in their thousands to get the slightly retro look certain to be dubbed the "Kate". The days of the "Pob", the strange, asymmetrical hairstyle that Victoria Beckham sported soon after arriving Stateside, are numbered. Even the allure of the pixie crop, as favoured by model-of-the-moment Agyness Deyn, is fading.

The fringe has been the hot hair trend for some months now, yet La Moss took some time to warm up to the look. The former OC star Mischa Barton, Anne Hathaway of The Devil Wears Prada, and the Fantastic Four actress Jessica Alba have all got there before Kate (although Barton and Alba have already got sick of theirs). Other fringe fans include Milla Jovovich and Elizabeth Hurley.

Kate got hers chopped by her hairdresser friend James Brown, who, handily – given the number of times his name made it into the press last week – has just seen his new range of hair care products hit the shelves in Boots. He reckons fringes can suit most people, especially when they're cut a big longer.

Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck, global creative director at the hair salon Toni & Guy, says: "A fringe is such an easy way of transforming long hair without going for a total restyle. Kate's rock-chick heavy fringe is so incredibly wearable, that we are already starting to see clients' requests flood in."