From Hillcrest to the Olympic Spotlight: Kelsey Miller’s Halo Moment

As millions of viewers watched the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, one of the hair styles making waves off the ice wasn’t from a fashion show – it was the dramatic “halo” style sported by Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu. And behind this look was Kelsey Miller ’05, a St. Louis-based colorist and Hillcrest Academy alumna from Kalona, Iowa.

Miller was chosen early this year to give Liu a new look for her annual addition of horizontal blonde and brunette rings, a style the 20-year-old has been sporting annually since 2023, using professional-grade hair products to achieve the lightening effect necessary for the look before competitions. The process took about five hours, and the results were easily seen during the worldwide broadcast of the Olympics.

Miller described the opportunity as unique not only for the exposure during an event watched by millions of people worldwide, but also because it put her line of work in the same spotlight as world-class athletes.

“For people around the world watching the Olympics, seeing a hairstyle that was done by someone who is part of a small community in Iowa be part of the conversation is a very human element of the Olympics,” Miller explained.

There’s been a lot of press about this success story. Read more about Kelsey and Alysa Liu in The News and in Cosmopolitan.