New York Fashion Week’s fall 2024 beauty trends were all about easy drama—the sort that comes with a live actually lived. Smudged makeup and mussed hair teamed with high-impact eye makeup and twee accessories for a menu of beauty moments that were retro, realistic, and effortlessly striking.
At Helmut Lang, hairstylist Jawara created hair looks designed to echo the real lives of New Yorkers, which include getting caught in wet-look weather. Scarves and kerchiefs floated into the fray as the hair accessories to watch, while braids took on extra texture through creative weaving and wear. The takeaway: We’re trying, but never too hard. Here, five beauty trends that caught our eye on the fall 2024 runways.
Stylized Braids
Plaits were woven for extra impact this season, beginning with the taut French braids at LaPointe. Snaking braid duets came accompanied by confectionary twists at the crown, those furnished with sweetly curled edges. Cornrow crowns and scalloped braids featured at Ulla Johnson, a textural counter to the show’s super-sleek low ponytails. The week ended with Thom Browne’s vertical wire-spiked braids—
Umberto Fratini / Gorunway.com
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com
Artistic Eyes
Black eyeliner and exaggerated lashes dominated the fall runways, the classic detailing applied with out-of-the-box artistic twists. At Marc Jacobs, lashes reached preternatural, doll-like levels, while the smudges at Prabal gave a stark relief. Smudges and full rims of black shadow pulled focus at Helmut Lang; and at Alice + Olivia, black cat eyes came punctuated by a graphic white contrast.
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com
Lily and Lilac / Courtesy of Alice + Olivia
Scarves and Kerchiefs
Move over, ribbons: hair scarves and kerchiefs are taking over in all of their retro-glamour glory. Sandy Liang topped hair with fabric edged in ruffles, along with leather and brocade iterations, the effect quirky and chic. Meanwhile, patterned silk scarves tied beneath the chin lent to the ’60s aesthetic at Anna Sui. Regardless of your preferred head wrap, consider bad hair days entirely thwarted.
photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com
Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com
Lived-In Glam
The season’s best beauty has come ever-so-slightly undone. The makeup at Prabal Gurung had a smudgy, morning-after feel, while Ditoma’s beauty looks were designed to evoke the end of a party well-attended. At Altuzarra, loose, equestrian-inspired braids were just barely pinned in place, the hair paired with a softly grunge makeup look.
Courtesy of Altuzarra
Wet Look Hair
Don’t let your lengths dry out just yet. Wet look lengths are here to stay, and featured on the runways of Helmut Lang (where manes were slicked back at the crown) and Prabal Gurung (damp and piece-y strands splayed across foreheads) and Area (pulled into a pony at the nape of the neck). At Collina Strada, seemingly set hair were afforded an appropriately idiosyncratic additions, the brand’s emblematic star and angel wings crafted from extensions and secured on the sides of slicked styles.
Armando Grillo / Gorunway.com
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com
