Save this story Save Story Save this story With lacquered curls spiraling across her forehead, a dark and smoky gaze, and a megawatt smile, FKA twigs has all but disappeared into Josephine Baker. The first image of the British musician as the legendary entertainer in the forthcoming biopic Josephine Baker has arrived, and if this is anything to go by, we’re in for an on-screen beauty transformation for the ages.
In the image, twigs stands atop a dining table, twisting into a playful pose in a pink, crystal-strewn flapper dress with delicate beading and fringe. But it’s the beauty that really transports us to 1920s Paris. Her hair has been molded into an ultra-glossy, close-cropped style, with elaborate kiss curls arranged across her forehead and temples. Her eyes are rimmed with smoldering shadow, her brows sharply defined, and her lips painted a rich red. It’s classic Baker, down to the mischievous expression.
After all, few performers have left such an enduring mark on beauty history. Baker’s signature Eton crop, sculpted finger waves, and intricate S-shaped kiss curls helped define the Jazz Age. She understood the transformative potential of hair and makeup: brows drawn into fine, expressive arches, heavily kohled eyes, and dark, precisely shaped lips. Hers was a highly theatrical, unapologetically glamorous approach to beauty, one that challenged conventional standards and continues to inform red-carpet trends a century later.
You need only look at the recent Met Galas for proof. At the 2025 event , Baker’s influence was everywhere: Dua Lipa, Sydney Sweeney, and Coco Jones were among those sporting intricate forehead curls, while Gigi Hadid and twigs herself paid tribute to the entertainer through their clothing. The following year, the kiss curl remained a red-carpet fixture, appearing in elaborate interpretations on Lisa and Kylie Jenner. Elsewhere, Ayo Edebiri, Odessa A’zion, and Chappell Roan have all experimented with variations of the look in 2026.
A fellow dancer, singer, and consummate performer, twigs has long treated beauty as an extension of her artistic expression, experimenting with sculptural hairstyles and otherworldly makeup. Baker was celebrated for an exuberant, often comedic stage persona, finding ways to subvert the expectations and racial stereotypes imposed upon her. Their aesthetics aren’t identical—twigs gravitates toward the experimental and occasionally surreal, where Baker delighted in humor and Jazz Age showmanship—but both understand the power of a carefully constructed image.
(Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) Josephine Baker, (*03.06.1906 - 12.04.1975+) , Dancer and singer, USA / France, performing in Paris, - published in the 'Berliner Morgenpost', 14.11.1926 (Photo by ullstein bild via Getty Images) ullstein bild Dtl./Getty Images Indeed, twigs has already explored Baker’s beauty codes. At the 2025 Met Gala, she wore an ultra-short Eton crop and a Josephine-inspired feathered dress by Grace Wales Bonner . Speaking to Vogue at the time, she described Baker, alongside Eartha Kitt and Grace Jones, as an embodiment of female dandyism. The admiration clearly runs deep.
The forthcoming film, directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, will follow Baker’s extraordinary life from her ascent to stardom in 1920s Paris through her work with the French Resistance during World War II and her involvement in the American civil rights movement. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Baker’s mother, with the production spanning multiple decades and locations. Filming reportedly began this fall.
The project marks the first major screen adaptation of the Baker’s life and has received the full blessing of the late singer’s estate. “She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, ground-breaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today,” twigs said in a press statement.
Trinidadian singer and dancer Sheila Clake in a showgirl costume as part of her tribute to Josephine Baker, backed up by male dancers dressed in top hats and tailcoats, during a production of the musical-comedy revue 'The Jazz Train', staged at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End of London, England, 1955. The production, which featured an all-Black cast of performers, was conceived by Mervyn Nelson, with music and lyrics by JC Johnson. (Photo by John Drysdale/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Photo: John Drysdale / Getty Images The expansive timeline offers a sweeping beauty playground for lead makeup artist Laura Ozier, working alongside costume designer Emmanuelle Youchnovski, whose credits include The Substance . Beyond the early kiss curls, we’ll see Baker’s sleek side-parted bob, gelled head, and 1940s coiffures, 1950s updos, plus some very dramatic on-stage makeup. Expect some enormous feathered headdresses and glitter decals that became part of her later performance wardrobe. We’ll also surely see the more restrained side of Baker away from the spotlight, as her life took her from cabaret stages into wartime resistance and political activism.
Baker’s appearance evolved alongside her ambitions and her growing cultural influence. For FKA twigs, whose own career has been defined by artistic reinvention, the opportunity is enormous. And judging by this first glimpse, the beauty alone will be worth watching for.
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Source: Lifestyle
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