Emily Blunt is having a full-circle moment. On July 29, the actress was photographed filming “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in New York City, stepping back into her role as Runway’s no-nonsense assistant Emily Charlton, complete with her character’s signature red hair.
The shade Blunt’s rocking now is richer, glossier, and more dimensional than her 2006 original, and it happens to line up perfectly with one of the biggest trends of the year: cowboy copper. The red-toned hair color trend has been consistently dominating salons and social feeds; one of our editors even tried it herself. With its rich, warm hue and dimensional shine, the shade looks both elevated and on-trend, exactly what we’d expect from a fashion-obsessed character nearly two decades later.
The copper color blends warm red tones with natural brunette or dark blond undertones, creating a shade that feels flattering, low-key, and sun-kissed.
According to LA-based celebrity stylist Cherilyn Farris, cowboy copper is ideal for anyone curious about going red but hesitant to commit to a high-maintenance, fire-engine hue. “Because this color generally has a natural background tone to it, a person’s natural color can be the background tone, giving the shade a very customized, skin-tone-flattering result,” she previously told PopSugar.
That personalization is part of what makes cowboy copper so appealing: it works with your natural coloring instead of against it and is more forgiving in terms of upkeep. Depending on how it’s applied, you may be able to stretch touch-ups every 6 to 12 weeks, especially if you use color-safe shampoo and pigment-depositing masks to maintain warmth. For color-treated hair, we like the L’Oreal Paris Elvive Color Vibrancy Protecting Shampoo ($10), Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner ($32), and the IGK Color Depositing Conditioning Hair Mask in On the Money ($32).
Blunt first wore red hair as her character Emily in the original “The Devil Wears Prada,” playing the chic, slightly terrifying senior assistant to Miranda Priestly. Nearly 20 years later, she’s not only reviving the role, she’s reviving the look for the May 2026 sequel.
Olivia Tauber is a freelance writer based in New York, pursuing her Master’s in Journalism at NYU. She’s the contributing assistant beauty editor at PopSugar and contributor to Interview, Bustle, SELF, and HuffPost. Her career began in corporate publicity at Showtime, followed by production for “The Pivot,” an Emmy-nominated series.