Award winning men’s hairdresser, Jim Shaw, shares his comments on his top 5 trending fade haircuts.
Fade haircuts continue to dominate men’s grooming trends in 2025. With options like high fade, low fade, skin fade, and taper fade, there’s a style to suit every hair type, texture, and face shape.
Here are five trending fade styles, with expert tips from Jim Shaw on how to wear and style them best.
1. Taper fade – Features a smooth transition from longer hair on top to shorter sides and back, without going down to the skin.
Jim’s Tip: Comb back the top with a pomade or gel for a clean, sleek finish.
2. High fade –Starts at or above the temples, creating a sharp contrast with longer hair on top.
Jim’s Tip: Blow-dry hair upwards for volume; finish with styling paste for definition.
3. Hard Part Fade – Adds a shaved line to define the parting, combined with a gradual fade.
Jim’s Tip: Use a comb and pomade to achieve a polished, parted look.
4. High and tight fade –Takes inspiration from the military cut and features super short sides and back that are shaved very high close to the head before gradually blending into the longer length on top.
This is a short hairstyle which makes it easy to maintain and requires little to no styling. However, being shorter in length, this cut will require more regular visits to the salon/barbershop to ensure it always looks its best and that there is a strong contrast between the short sides and back and the longer length on top.
Jim’s Tip: A pomade or wax are great products to distribute with your fingers through the top of your hair to give it added texture.
5. The French Crop Fade – For those who would like to include a fringe in their fade hairstyle, the French crop fade haircut is the perfect choice. This features a straight fringe across the forehead, paired with clean, seamless fade at the sides and back. It’s a sharp, contrasting look that looks incredibly stylish and contemporary and is particularly good for those who have strong facial features that they want to draw attention to.
Jim’s Tip: To give the fringe added texture, leave it to air dry, mist in some texturising spray and use my fingers to help air dry the hair whilst giving it added texture and body. Matte clays and pastes are also great products to use on dry hair for this look to give it an effortless finish.
