This year’s season of fashion weeks is drawing to an end and there’s no doubt that voluminous hairdos and shimmery embellishments have made big statements. In New York, wigs have defined the aesthetics of the runway with a nod to the ‘60s. In London, Victorian-like sculpted hairdos have kept in place clean girl aesthetics. And across different fashion weeks, grungy beauty is making a comeback.
Maximalism has gracefully interlaced the beauty codes of minimalism and no-makeup makeup, and the spellbinding world of gravity-defying hairstyles is set to infuse with drama this year’s aesthetics. Let’s look at some of the trends seen on the runway.
Glamorous Blowouts: retro, electrifying, and experimental hairdos have been confirmed to be a 2024 mainstay.
Zendaya—is this your influence? Whether that’s 100% true or not, blowouts and architectural hairdos were seen in different shows. During New York Fashion Week, Christian Cowan and Son Jung Wan brought to the runway voluminous styles that nod to the 60’s, while Marc Jacobs defied gravity with larger-than-life hairstyles that matched well his dolly world of maximalism.
While drama and sky-grazing styles ruled in New York, coquette styles were seen during the fashion week in London, with Simone Rocha and Richard Quinn unveiling Victorian styles with a nod to ‘80s glamour. Big or elegant volumes, it is clear that sculpted up-dos and clean girl aesthetics were at the front this season.
Glam Grunge: soft femininity is on the edge.
“It’s lived in, it’s the day after,” said makeup artist Romero Jennings at Prabal Gurung’s backstage during NYFW, pointing that smudged makeup—looking as if you’ve been up the entire night—is in focus, a counteraction to clean girl aesthetics.
Grunge-inflected looks were seen across different shows, including Jason Wu and Anna Sui in New York, Helmut Lang and Yuhan Wang in Paris, and Dennis Chuene in Berlin. With this trend, we lean towards the early ‘90s and make chic the overnight look.
Cloud Blush: from skin to flush blush techniques.
It was a matter of time before we would focus on blush after skin had long reigned. This trend, same as with cloud skin, follows the concept of a hazy, lit-from-within look. That being said, it is clear that glass skin and other buttery skin concepts are being toned down with softer—and much less glow—looks. Flush blush was particularly seen at Gabriela Hearst, Kim Shui, Christian Cowan, and Luar last week in New York.
Shimmery Ornaments: gilded and plated embellishments in all its forms.
Starting with the Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture show by Simone Rocha in Paris last month, the playful elevation of no-makeup beauty with jewels and crystals glued to eyebrows, lids, and lips, runways were filled with hair, skin, and nail shimmery embellishments, adding on fantasy, maximalism, romanticism or subtle elegance.
In London, models at Mithridate had gold foil decorating their foreheads, and in New York, Christian Siriano’s show kicked off with hair centre-pieces and shimmery box buns. Then, at Luar, models’s eyelashes were turned into sources of pearls, and in a similar fashion, sculptural, gold-lacquered nails were paired to achieve a make-it-modern baroque style.
Fluffy Lashes: dazzling eyes coming forward.
This season proved to be anything but short on lash drama, especially in New York, with Dolly Parton’s and Twiggy’s spirits conjured at Alice + Olivia’s show, and fluffy lashes for a haunting—almost non-human—type of beauty at Thom Browne’s runway by Isamaya Ffrench.
And while Alice + Olivia hanged on the ‘60s spirit and Thom Browne dove into more subversive aesthetics, Marc Jacobs set high the bar of beauty-heavy lashes with an extreme interpretation of Diana Ross’s ‘60s era: with nail polish coated lashes, unusually large spidery lashes made it to the runway.
Glass Skin: are we ready for the next level of porcelain-like skin?
No matter the current trends, the beauty world is far from the lustrous skin that Pat McGrath created for the Margiela couture show in Paris. There’s no doubt that the seemingly translucent skin seen on the runway is among the main reasons this show broke the internet instantly. Naturally, this season’s fashion weeks became the epicentre for high-gloss complexions.
In New York, models at Collina Strada, LaPointe, and Puma were glaring too. “There’s sweat going on for everyone,” said makeup artist Emi Kaneko, using glycerin-based products for Collina Strada.
Braided Buns: knots, loops, and extreme length.
Different braided styles were spotted in New York. An army of models at Tory Burch sported long braids at the back while braided loops at Luar and LaPointe defined the aesthetics of the show. And at Thom Browne, pigtails raised against gravity for a sinister look.
*Header: Helmut Lang AW2024 – courtesy of Helmut Lang
