Martha Stewart has traded her signature blonde bob for a bold new look. Celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton posted a video on August 9, 2026, showing the 85-year-old lifestyle icon’s dramatic transformation into what he called her “rose gold era” — a soft, playful pink shade that immediately caught fans off guard.
Inside the Transformation
Appleton, known for coloring and styling A-list clients, shared the before-and-after clip from his salon chair with Stewart sitting in a white robe as he worked through the process. The video’s caption, “Welcome to the rose gold era 🌹✨,” set the tone for a look that leans more playful than polished — a notable departure from the crisp, camera-ready blonde Stewart has worn for decades on television and across her media empire.
At one point in the clip, Stewart is seen mouthing along to a line from “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” adding a knowing wink to a transformation that already had the internet talking. The pairing of a beloved lifestyle mogul with a stylist whose client list includes some of pop culture’s biggest names made the clip an instant standout across social platforms.
The Stylist Behind the Look
Appleton’s client roster is one of the most recognizable in the industry, having styled Kim Kardashian and the wider Kardashian-Jenner family, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Sofía Vergara, Katy Perry, and Ariana Grande — he’s the stylist behind Grande’s now-iconic high ponytail and Lopez’s bombshell curls from her 2020 Super Bowl halftime show. Handing Stewart a transformation this bold, from a stylist normally associated with pop’s biggest names, is part of what made the pairing feel like real news rather than a routine touch-up.
A Bigger Media Moment for Stewart Overall
The hair reveal lands right in the middle of a broader Stewart media push. Her Emmy-nominated series “Martha Cooks,” previously on The Roku Channel, arrived on Netflix on August 25, 2026, followed a day later by “The Martha Stewart Podcast” launching on the platform as part of a wider video-podcast partnership between iHeartMedia and Netflix — with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian featured in the first streaming episode. Seen against that backdrop, the rose gold transformation reads less like an isolated viral moment and more like one piece of a deliberately timed publicity wave, with Stewart’s team clearly comfortable using a bold personal style change to help draw extra attention to her expanding streaming presence.
Why Fans Are Reacting
Stewart has spent more than four decades building a brand around precision, taste, and consistency — qualities that make any visible change to her look newsworthy in its own right. A rose gold shade this far from her usual palette reads as a deliberate, fun statement rather than a subtle refresh, and it’s landed exactly that way with fans reacting to the boldness of the choice at 85.
Several observers have also noted the styling evokes an earlier era of glamour, pointing to Stewart’s next look — a soft, va-va-voom updo styled after the transformation — as part of what made the whole reveal feel like a full “era” shift rather than a single dye job.
What’s on “Martha Cooks”
The Emmy-nominated “Martha Cooks” originally launched on The Roku Channel before making the move to Netflix, and it features Stewart cooking alongside chefs, celebrity friends, and other guests in a format built around casual, conversational cooking rather than tightly scripted instruction. Pairing that series with the video version of her already-established iHeartPodcast, whose first Netflix episode features Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, gives Stewart two distinct but complementary formats on the platform — one built around food and hospitality, the other around long-form conversation — expanding her reach well beyond the lifestyle-brand image she built her original career on.
Why the Timing Looks Deliberate
Publicists routinely time a client’s most shareable personal moments to line up with a bigger project launch, and the gap between the hair reveal and the Netflix rollout — just over two weeks — fits that playbook closely. A striking, easily-clipped visual moment like a dramatic color change tends to travel further and faster across social platforms than a straightforward streaming announcement on its own, making it a practical way to keep Stewart’s name circulating in entertainment coverage in the run-up to “Martha Cooks” and her podcast both going live on the platform.
What This Says About Stewart’s Ongoing Reinvention
This isn’t the first time Stewart has surprised her audience with an unexpected pop-culture moment; she’s built a decades-long career on staying culturally relevant well beyond her original Martha Stewart Living audience, from her Snoop Dogg collaborations to her regular presence across entertainment and lifestyle media today. A hair transformation this playful fits neatly into that same pattern of an octogenarian icon continuing to surprise a much younger internet audience.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who gave Martha Stewart her new pink hair?
Celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton posted the video of Martha Stewart’s rose gold hair transformation on August 9, 2026.
What color is Martha Stewart’s new hair?
Stewart’s new look is a soft rose gold/pink shade, a major shift from her longtime signature blonde bob.
How old is Martha Stewart?
Martha Stewart is 85 years old at the time of her hair transformation reveal.
Who else has Chris Appleton styled?
Appleton’s client list includes Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Sofía Vergara, Katy Perry, and Ariana Grande.
