Not a diva was down at the spring 2027 shows this New York Fashion Week.
Backstage beauty teams across presentations seemingly — if unwittingly — drove toward a similar ideal: The coolest girl you know. That manifested in full, party-girl glam at shows like Conner Ives and Diane von Furstenberg, while Y2K-era crimped hair took to the catwalk at shows like Christian Siriano and Christian Cowan.
At Christian Cowan, lead stylist Justine Marjan crafted two semi-crimped styles, “The Siren Slipknot” and “The Mermaid Messy Knot,” the latter being a modern take on the messy bun. Marjan explained the retro tone was inspired by the 20th anniversary of TRESemmé’s hero hairspray. “Trends are cyclical, and 20 years ago was 2006. We saw a lot of crimps back then, and now we’re seeing them come back in a new way,” she said.
Related Articles
Indeed, Christian Cowan wasn’t the only show — and certainly not the only Christian — to revive the controversial hair trend with a contemporary edge this fashion season. Christian Siriano paraded models with kinked hair, styled in clownfish stripes courtesy of Lacy Redway, while stylist Joey George put forth his own version in the form of incomplete crimping that looked like he’d accidentally held the straightener in one section for too long.
Meanwhile at Luar, makeup artist Andrew Dahling used MAC Cosmetics to craft a number of 1980s-ballroom-meets-Elizabethan-regalia-Tudor-esque looks, as one does when painting faces to complement creative director Raúl Lopez’s vision for a Christopher Columbus voyage that unwittingly brings vampires Stateside — and then to Christopher Street, where Lopez himself came of age in queer New York.
“I look to the ‘90s and early 2000s drama days [for inspiration]; I feel like that’s something that we’re really missing nowadays, is some fantasy in our industry,” said Dahling, who is best known for crafting many of singer Chappell Roan’s most fantastical makeup looks. “Raúl loves the fantasy; we share that passion for the drama.”
He added of the show’s rebellious spirit: “It’s sort of a thing with the queer community, where we reclaim things that marginalized us.”
At London-based American designer Conner Ives’ inaugural New York show, makeup artist Aaron DeMay created four characters, ranging from prim and polished to a level-four “glamazon,” with MAC Cosmetics.
“I’m turning Meryl Streep into a party girl,” DeMay said of one look, inspired in part by Streep’s role in “Kramer vs. Kramer” that combined elements of coral powder blush with ultra-clumpy mascara. “[It’s] striking, sexy, elevated, tough looking.”
In a full-circle moment, Iris Law and Lila Moss — daughters of the original London party girls Sadie Frost and Kate Moss — walked the show.
For hair, Claire Grech used Kevin.Murphy to draw inspiration from the 1980s power lunch and the expressive volume of the era, with references ranging from Streep to Billy Idol and JFK Jr.
“We’ve got this slight ‘70s, ‘80s blowout. It’s not too full on ’80s — it still feels a little bit more classic. But she’s a far more put-together woman…kind of a carefree woman as well,” the hairstylist said.
At von Furstenberg, the party continued.
“We were inspired by the character of this sexy, glamorous New York party girl from the ‘70s and ‘80s with an uptown meets downtown feeling,” said hairstylist Mustafa Yanaz of the messy down-hairdos he crafted at Diane von Furstenberg using Bumble & bumble. “And of course I am inspired by Diane herself as a reference, because she was that person.”
Other bids for frugal, fuss-free hair arrived in the form of low-hanging, loose ponytails, as seen at Cult Gaia, Tory Burch and Lii.
