An Intro to Donde Dorian, The Hottest Hair Stylist in Cuba

Dorian in his hair studio.

Cubans have a number of ways of putting their incredibly diverse and dynamic culture on display. Travelers who visit Cuba leave with the highest impressions of the incredible music, the dance, the architecture, and most of all, the people.

Young Cubans have carved out a space of their own in Cuba’s rich cultural scene – distinct from the classic scene travelers expect to find on the streets of Havana. Cuban millennials and Gen Z’ers have updated and globalized the scene in Havana. You can see it from fusion reggaeton-salsa played through a low quality but high volume Bluetooth speaker along the Malecon, carried by kids in ripped skinny jeans and a “Supreme” t-shirt – to the new wave of Cuban Instagram influencers.  In Cuba, fashion and culture go hand in hand.

A centerpiece of this new cultural wave is the hair. You’ll see young Cubans, mostly men, with gravity-defying styles, with each hair combed and gelled to perfection. You’ll see colors, spikes, fresh fades and flat-tops. The man credited with leading this movement is Dorian, who owns a hair studio is colloquially known as Donde Dorian. Any particular day, you can find Dorian and his fellow hair designers there, through the hairspray smoke, fashioning the hottest reggaeton or salsa singers and musicians, TV personalities and actors.   

A group of trendsetters at Dorian’s recent fashion show in Havana.

Donde Dorian is a trendsetter. He mostly brings his artistry to the farandula, or the Cuban world of artists, musicians, and stiletto sporting movemakers. He pushes boundaries and creates images for artists.  

He’s told us that the style of 2018 is known as the pelaedor, which translates to the Siamese fighting fish for the different bright colors. (Photo evidence below).

Dorian has played an outsized role in connecting Cuba to the Cuban diaspora through shared styles and culture. His styles have made it across the straits of Florida and back -- and young Cubans in Havana and Miami have never looked and acted so much alike.

The salon’s website can be found here. Dorian and his team also give haircuts and style CET’s clients hair, as they learn first hand how to let their hair down Havana style.