Spring 2020 Runway closed out with a whirlwind of big-name shows and memorable fashions to match. But the collections themselves weren’t the only eye-catching elements on the runways — the show-stopping hair and makeup also made quite an impact.
The runways, this year, were saturated with statement pieces, in colors and sparkles, sustainibility and individuality and that too all above the neck. Let’s take Euphoria to start with, which took a mesmerizing effect on fashion.
It all began with free-form eye etchings at Rosie Assoulin and Anna Sui in New York, which continued with the shimmering ’70s-disco-meets-’90s-rave gazes at London’s House of Holland and glitter tears at Fendi in Milan. The grand finale of escapist, Gen Z–luring beauty? That will be the meteor-shower-inspired swathes of sparkle at Off-White and the myriad of crystalized gazes at Schiaparelli in Paris.
Here we list the hair and makeup trends that emerged from the Spring 2020 shows from New York to Paris.
Braids That Inspire and Mesmerize
There were a flood of braids this season. With a mission to create a sustainable, electricity-free style at Gabriela Hearst, hairstylist James Pecis braided a commanding high-gloss rope braid, no heat-styling necessary. And in a very similar spirit of challenging the industry standards at Pyer Moss, lead hairstylist Jon Reyman collaborated with hairstylist Nigella Miller for a beautiful array of jewel-adorned and loc styles braids. “It was really nice to be able to show what black hair are supposed to look like as opposed to being unnoticed in the industry,” Miller wrote on Instagram following the show. Then at Gucci, Paul Hanlon tapped braider Latarra to create the show’s close-cropped, geometric-plaited styles and made a point of giving her due credit when he shared the looks on social media.
The New Romantic Hair Trend
It all began at Tory Burch in New York, where hair pro Guido Palau put an ironic twist on the Sloane Ranger look by fastening pastel combs with sculptural waves and a deep side part to New Romantic effect. Then, the swept-across look made its way across the pond at Marques’Almeida, where hair of all textures (bleached waves! Auburn spirals! Raven corkscrews!) fell insouciantly over the brow. Palau’s further contemplation of the look offered bringing back to its roots in the ’40s, riffing on the decade uncritically at Chloé with sculptural and polished yet “boyish” updos, and then further at Miu Miu, from where he used traditional tissue sets for soft ringlets, molding them into a voluminous, coiffed half-up style.
Florals Here, There, Everywhere
Florals for spring? It isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but is exciting than ever on the beauty front. Thanks to some abrupt applications across the four weeks. First, there were the bunch of flower-power looks at Marc Jacobs, from giant flower-topped afros to Kaia Gerber’s bloom-adorned bouffant. In London, Bora Aksu and Ashish each applied fresh flowers to the hair, and in Milan, blooms were aplenty at both Marni and Missoni; the former furthering its sustainability narrative with clay-slicked, floral-bedecked updos and the latter offering a bohemian-chic alternative for traditional wedding updos with sprigs of garden flowers tucked into deconstructed knots. Finally, supercharged dewy skin was decorated with pastel petals across gazes to create next-level eye adornments at Giambattista Valli.
The Euphoria Effect Is Real
More color, more spark and even more shine! HBO’s hit show Euphoria has not only sparked a makeup movement among Gen Z-ers, but fashion diehards as well. There were the equal parts abstract and vivid eyeliner designs that appeared at Anna Sui and Rosie Assoulin, followed by House of Holland’s neon-bright holographic encasings, Fendi’s “morning-after” cascades of silver glitter, and translucent sequin-pressed lids by Giorgio Armani in Milan. Since Paris is relied upon for its hyper-real drama, there were these metallic silver glitter and loose octagon sequins dustings at Off-White as well as the amazing face jewelry designs at Schiaparelli, which ran the spectrum from metallic silver to gradient rainbow.
Lash Play Goes Extreme
Among the 60 diffirent individual looks at Marc Jacobs, there was a model who played the spitting image of Liza Minnelli, complete with the superstar’s spidery, exaggerated fringe. Lashes were again highlighted at Gucci, all thanks to makeup artist Thomas de Kluyver, who can always be relfinallyied upon to suppress beauty conventions. For Spring 2020, he applied stacks of false lashes on the eyes and brows for a gaudy, off-kilter vibe. This play was continued at Olivier Theyskens, where Isamaya Ffrench layered extra-long extensions in coats of onyx mascara. Then back at Valentino, with the legendary Pat McGrath digging into her ’90s couture show kits for some heavy-metal gold fringe falsies that would glitter and glisten over the runway.
Lips Get the Vinyl Treatment
Fluidity is an essential code for Gucci under designer Alessandro Michele and that is why Kluyver gave models of all genders a slick of translucent gloss for Spring. Then makeup artist Fara Homidi mixed up a custom “super-nude gloss” at Off-White and coated each mouth to continue the show’s high-shine, season-to-season beauty signature. Finally for the final day of Paris Fashion Week, Chanel presented a more striking take on gloss with a diffuse wash of coral pink, while on the other hand Louis Vuitton served up some heavy-lined crimson pouts that were infused in shine.
The Big-Hair Bar Is Set Higher and Higher
“I had an idea that the look had to be something extreme—either the height or the length. I went for height!” explained hair pro Guido Palau backstage at Tomo Koizumi, where he sculpted model Ariel Nicholson’s lengths “incredibly high” into a gravity-defying cone shape. Setting the bar for the rest of New York Fashion Week, Christopher John Rogers, Pyer Moss, and Marc Jacobs followed the textured ceiling-bound styles. Later, multidisciplinary hair artist Julien d’Ys molded hair into linear, gravity-defying shapes in Milan, and Eugene Souleiman modernized Marie Antoinette’s famous powdered pouf with fishtail braid detail at Thom Browne in Paris.
All in all, this fashion season was a huge hit for beauty trends as well.
