Ditch your beloved dry shampoo, because greasy roots are in and your new best friend is a pot of hair gel.
Yup, wet look waves are the latest trend to hit the runway, think glossed side swept fringes and baby hair tendrils with vintage 1920’s Hollywood twist.
Ever the fashion week trendsetter, if legendary hairstylist Sam McKnight says wet look gel is in, then frankly, that's all we need to know.
Turning his slick vision to Fendi AW19, McKnight paid tribute to the recently deceased Karl Lagerfeld with 'Thirties waves turned into a river of glossy swirls and twists...tied into a very contemporary natural pony low in the back.'
At Burberry we saw Redken’s Global Creative Director, Guido Palau, gel fine strands of hair from the roots into an intricate swirly pattern on to the models foreheads. Palau said the look ‘was inspired by different youth cultures, but a more elaborate version with an art nouveau inspired pattern’.
Think graphic Rennie Macintosh lines made out of your own hair.
Palau applied Redken’s Hardwear Gel 16, £18.90 to sculpt the design, before using bobby pins to create the detailed swirls. He then finished the look with Redken’s Forceful 23 Hairspray, £12.05 all over, to make sure the design stayed put.
Warning: it may take a few washes to free your hair from the layers of gel but when it looks this good, it's totally worth it.
It's not exactly a classic beauty reference, but the plastic helmet hair sported by our favourite childhood Lego figurines has finally got the sartorial recognition it deserves.
The inspiration behind the hair at J.W. Anderson’s AW19 show, hairstylist Anthony Turner said the Lego reference was all about ‘sectioning the hair to create sharp, graphic masculine edges’.
Turner created the look by using the edge of tail comb to create the defined sections, and you guessed it, a whole lot of gel. Models' hair was then blow dried using the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer, £299.99, with the narrow diffuser head, to produce an even air flow to make sure the hair was totally dry minus any unwanted frizz.
Hairstylist Benjamin Muller was inspired by the Godfather to create the smooth comb overs at Emilia Wickstead. ‘It’s all about very sleek, Italian looking hair but an ultra female version’ said Muller.
Compared to other shows, the gel was a little more pared back, with the look focussing on super shiny, beautifully done hair. A sharp side parting and strong sweep of hair across the forehead gave models an almost masculine feel, whilst knitted caps added a ‘young daughter, vintage’ feel to the look.
At Richard Quinn, pro hairstylist James Pecis paired the bright and colourful prints from the clothing with symmetrical gelled sections of hair. ‘We wanted to create an angular curtain to the face, using a lot of gel to create a glassy effect to the hair, which almost has a classic lady feel to it but a bit more strange and interesting’, revealed Pecis backstage.
Hair was sectioned off from ear to ear to create the precise lines, gelled using KMS Hairplay Styling Gel, £13.00, and pressed in with a tail comb, rather than combed through, to make the hair flat and add a almost glass-like effect.
The Best Backstage Hair Looks From Fashion Week AW19
Charlotte Bitmead (she/her) is the Senior Beauty Writer at Cosmopolitan UK. She has over six years experience writing about beauty and has previously written for ELLE and The Sunday Times Style, covering everything from politics to sustainability to inclusivity within the beauty industry. When she’s not writing in-depth features, testing out the newest skincare fad or trying to decide what nail art to get, you can find her overspending in bookshops or shouting at Arsenal matches. Find her on LinkedIn
