The Evolution of Uhura's Hair in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Leah SciFi

As both a Hair and Media Makeup lecturer and lifelong Star Trek fan, I spend an unhealthy amount of time analysing hairstyles on screen, not because I'm looking for mistakes, quite the opposite, I'm fascinated by the storytelling.

Hair is one of the most powerful visual tools available to designers. Long before a character speaks, their hairstyle communicates identity, confidence, culture, profession, personality and, importantly, where they are in their journey.

I have been very interested in the design and development of Uhura's hair in Star Trek Strange New Worlds, in seasons 1-3 we have seen a huge range of styles but none of them yet representative of the iconic style we know from the original series. I have been keen to see how they transition into this style, but first, let's see what they have done so far.

Hair as Character Development

One of the greatest strengths of Strange New Worlds is that it allows us to meet iconic characters before they become the people we remember. Unlike The Original Series, these characters are still developing and learning who they are, growing into their responsibilities and discovering the leaders they will eventually become. The costume, makeup, and hair departments understand this.

From a character design perspective, hair carries for more significance than simply creating an attractive silhouette. Psychological research has demonstrated that altering a person's hairstyle can significantly impair our ability to recognise them, even when every facial feature remains unchanged. This suggests that hair forms part of our holistic mental representation of an individual's identity rather than existing as a separate aesthetic element. For the designers of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, this presents a fascinating challenge. Uhura's appearance must evolve naturally across the series while remaining recognisable to audiences and ultimately transitioning into the iconic hairstyle established in The Original Series. Rather than giving Uhura a single recognisable hairstyle throughout the series, they allow her appearance to alter and change, giving her scope to experiment with her hair as many of us will have done when we were young.

From beautifully defined natural curls to sleek updos, braided styles, and elegant short cuts, each hairstyle reflects both her individuality and her stage of personal development.

As someone who teaches character design, this is incredibly exciting to watch, and I am keen to now see how they make that final transition.

Celebrating Black Hair on Screen 

Perhaps what brings me the most joy is simply seeing the incredible range of hairstyles that Uhura has been allowed to wear. For decades, Black women in science fiction were often presented with limited styling choices or expected to maintain one "look." Strange New Worlds does something wonderfully different, it embraces versatility. Natural curls, protective styling, elegant formal updos, and shorter sculpted looks. Each style feels authentic and entirely appropriate for both the character and the futuristic world of Star Trek.

Rather than suggesting professionalism requires conformity, the series demonstrates that professionalism can comfortably exist alongside individuality and cultural identity. That feels incredibly true to Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. A future where diversity is celebrated.

Hair Design Beyond Aesthetics

One of the things I encourage my own students to think about is that hair design should never exist in isolation. Every creative decision should answer a question;

Who is this character?

What have they experienced?

What emotional state are they in?

Where are they going next?

Uhura's hairstyles consistently answer those questions. There is a confidence to some styles, softness to others, occasionally an elegance that reflects ceremonial occasions, meanwhile sometimes practicality takes precedence. Together they create a visual language that develops alongside the writing and performance. That is excellent character design.

The Challenge of Visual Continuity

Perhaps the aspect that fascinates me most, however, is not where Uhura's hairstyles are today. It's where they have to end.

As prequel series become increasingly popular, productions face a unique challenge, they must allow characters to evolve while ensuring they eventually align with the visual continuity audiences already know. In this case, we know exactly where Uhura's journey leads. We know the iconic appearance she adopts during Star Trek: The Original Series, that creates an exciting design challenge.

Every season of Strange New Worlds moves incrementally closer to that established visual identity while still allowing the younger Uhura space to experiment, mature and grow. As both a Star Trek fan and someone who teaches hair and character design, I find myself almost watching with two perspectives simultaneously. One is simply enjoying the incredible creativity of the present. The other is constantly wondering...

How are they going to get there?

Sneak peek at Uhura in S4 from a Paramount promo shot

More Than Nostalgia

The temptation with prequels is often to recreate familiar looks immediately. I think Strange New Worlds has wisely resisted that. Instead of asking audiences to see Uhura exactly as she appeared in the 1960s, the series allows her visual identity to grow alongside her confidence, experience and career. This makes the eventual transition even more meaningful and impactful. When the time comes for Uhura to fully resemble the officer we first met aboard the USS Enterprise, it won't simply be because the timeline requires it, it will feel earned and it will represent the completion of her journey.

Looking Ahead

Every new season leaves me just as excited to see Uhura's next hairstyle as I am to hear her next line of dialogue. That's probably the hair educator in me, but it's also because these designs highlight that the writing, costume, makeup, hair and performance all work together to tell one cohesive story, and somewhere between the curls, the braids, the elegant updos and the silhouettes lies (what I think) one of the most interesting examples of visual storytelling currently on television, and I cannot wait to see how they reach a design conclusion!

As Strange New Worlds continues its journey towards The Original Series, I'll be watching with genuine excitement to see how the artists behind the scenes use hair to help us believe every step of that journey.