Runway Hairstyle Ideas to Try If You’re Bored With Your Look

A change of season can throw everything off when it comes to your hair. Temperature and humidity shifts mean you’re dealing with a totally new texture, and suddently your go-to styles no longer seem to work. Couple that with general boredom, and it defintiely feels like time to switch things up. Luckily, we’ve got hawk eyes for new hair inspo and there was no shortage of swoon-worthy looks on the fall 2019 runway shows that just passed. From Studio 54-inspired curls to intricate braids, we’re jazzed to test drive these runway hairstyle ideas from New York, London, Milan and Paris.

Here are four standout trends we’ll be wearing this season.

Grunge But Make It Fashion

Nineties grunge is back in a big way this season—at least when it comes to hair. At denim brand R13 in New York, Guido Palau, global creative director for Redken, used one key product to give the models that messy, bedhead effect we all remember so fondly from our fave decade. He coated their hair in Redken All Soft Mega Hydramelt, a leave-in which texturizes to give a “kind of punky feel,” Palau explained backstage. At the Preen Thornton Bregazzi show in London, the hair look was reminiscent of a ’90s party girl after pulling an all-nighter, with undone, almost frizzy strands pulled back into a low ponytail. In Milan, Palau created a “very Versace” look at Donatella’s show by adding extensions to models’ hair for a chunky, texturized look, then finished it off with shine-boosting Redken Frizz Dimiss Smooth Force, which is relaunching this June. “The hair is a little grungy, very cool and a little sexy.” Bejeweled clips—one of our fave accessories trends right now—add a touch of glamour to the otherwise laidback look.

Disco Waves

Who doesn’t *love* the disco era?! (Spoiler alert: no one). We got our big hair fix this season with voluminous waves in every shape and style. At Christian Cowan, Bumble and Bumble global fashion director and hair lead Laurent Philippon created a fun and playful look to compliment the neon and crystal-encrusted fashions. “[This collection] is all about the idea of showing off your money, your cars, your body, and what better way to show off than disco fever,” he said backstage. Philippon used Bumble and Bumble Does It All Light Hold Hairspray and then tightly wound sections of the hair into a figure eight around large hair pins to create tight curls. After setting each curl, the pins were taken out and hair was backcombed to get the light, airy volume you saw on the runway.

Over at The Blonds show, Moroccanoil artistic director Kevin Hughes was creating a hair look that was inspired by “disco, gangster and a dash of Jerry Hall.” To create big, Studio 54 waves, hair was blown dry with a round brush and parted on the side to achieve smooth volume. Moroccanoil Perfect Defense was then used as a heat protectant before hair was pulled through a 1 1/4 inch curling iron to get cascading waves then spritzed with hairspray for hold. Once curls were set, Hughes brushed out each one to amp up volume.

To get ’70s va-va-voom volume at Naeem Khan, Justine Marjan, global stylist for TRESemmé, used Thick & Full Shampoo and Conditioner on models’ hair to build a solid foundation for the big curls. Then hair was swooped over in a deep side part to amplify the bigger-is-better effect.

Gel Is Back!

Hair gel is one of the most underrated hair products but maybe this season it can finally take its rightful place in our primping routines. At shows like Burberry, JW Anderson, Fendi and Proenza Schouler, to name a few, hair gel was the key product used to achieve sculptural, wet-looking hair. At Burberry, Palau slicked models’ hair back into super tight ballerina buns using Redken Hardwear Gel 16 and Forceful 23 Hairspray to create the look and to hold it in place. Sam McKnight created the slick, architectural looks at Fendi, which were a nod to the ’30s. He used gel to shape and style the front wave and then set his handiwork using Hair by Sam McKnight Modern Hairspray. At Proenza Schouler, slicked backed hair was the mandate, finger-combed back for an effortless, straight out of the shower style.

Braids for Days

Braids seem to be a recurring theme every season at fashion week but this year some of the plaits sent down the runway looked straight out of Ex-Machina, like the sleek styles at Tory Burch. Before weaving two french braids that began at the front hairline and then joined into one down model’s backs, Palau added extensions to give the look a “futuristic, Avatarfeel but with still a classicness to it.” After the extensions were in place, he applied Redken Dry Shampoo Paste to provide grit and hold, then created the super tight braids and spritzed on hairspray to finish off the style. Palau created another covetable braid situation at Prada with the return of pigtail plaits. “The whole concept is dark romance with a nod to a Gothic kind of girl.” Think: Wednesday Addams, Prada style. The key products Palau used to create this look were Redken Forceful 23 Hairspray and Dry Shampoo Paste for shine and hold. At Self Portrait, the style was a chic twist on a classic, with hair pulled back into a low pony which was then braided and twisted into a chignon—talk about a perfect polished look for Day 3 hair!

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