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If Rihanna wanted to shave your head, would you let her? If your answer is a resounding yes, you have at least one thing in common with dancer Mette Towley. Last week, N.E.R.D, the funk hip-hop band fronted by Pharrell, dropped their music video for their comeback single "Lemon," featuring none other than Bad Gal RiRi. The video opens with the singer—wearing a sleek fringed bob, silver chain necklace and Raf Simons "Nebraska" sweatshirt—wielding clippers in a hotel, giving pause with a laser-like stare into the camera before shaving off Towley s cloud of natural curls. The there s-no-turning-back-now transformation plays into the video s "no one ever really dies" theme (a play on the N.E.R.D acronym) by suggesting: If you want a new lease on life, radically shearing off your lengths is a fruitful first step.
"It was a once in a lifetime experience,” says Towley, a member of Pharrell s dance squad since 2014. "There weren t multiple takes. I only had one head to shave." Believe it or not, it wasn t the 26-year-old Minnesota native s first beauty transformation. At 15, she transitioned her hair from straightened back to its natural kinky texture. “I was done spending hours trying to maintain a look that wasn’t me," she recalls. "It was the first time I really took ownership of my body." She d go on to spend the next decade diligently nurturing her curl pattern, flexing its versatility by wearing a halo of glossy ringlets or a picked out afro. “With all the love and care I d given my curls, I surprised myself with how ready I was for the cut,” she says. “Afterwards, I put my hair in a bag and took it [home] with me from set--I couldn t just throw it away!” Still, the dramatic hair shift has been liberating for Towley as a performer: “I’ve never felt a stronger sense of femininity,” she explains. “I have a very womanly physique and I love the juxtaposition with the buzz cut. My body [has a] whole new silhouette.”
After receiving her crop, Towley spends the rest of the "Lemon" video performing a solo routine choreographed by JaQuel Knight (the mastermind behind Beyoncé s "Single Ladies" dance), covered in glitter as she shimmies, gyrates, and pops to mesmerizing effect. "I had a woman DM me on Instagram saying how much she appreciates that the video isn t exploitative and is about [subverting] the male gaze with full-on feminine strength and fury," she says. Male or female, one cannot help but marvel at Towley s rock-solid abs and sculpted limbs, the handiwork of not just being a professional dancer, but also attending hot yoga and off-duty-friendly classes at The Sweat Spot in L.A., where she currently resides. "I need to be drenched in sweat five days a week in order to feel strong," she says. And it s because she s breaking a sweat day in and day out that she reserves a makeup look for performances only. On most days, she simply cleanses, moisturizes, pats on her go-to Origins GinZing Eye Cream, swipes ChapStick over her lips, and brushes through her pre-naturally thick brows. Because for the muse, sporting a bare face, blemishes et al, is the ultimate show of confidence. Of course, it doesn t hurt that she is blessed with a chiseled bone structure, pillowy lips, and a lit-from-within glow.
With her powerful new buzz cut, and a career-defining moment afoot, it s a new beginning for Towley in more ways than one. What s next? "If Pharrell s taught me anything, it s that there s no limit to what you can achieve as long as you don t pigeonhole yourself," she explains. "And now I have a new sense of fearlessness. As a dancer. As a woman. As Mette."
