Why Natural Hair on the New York Runways Really Matters

As the beach-bum babes of Tommy Hilfiger’s Bob Marley–influenced runway show came wading through a makeshift ocean bank yesterday, one’s eye could hardly focus at first, what with the joyful collision of kaleidoscopic color, dizzying prints, and barely there mesh designs advancing upon the crowd. Bringing it all into sharp focus? The buoyant and bountiful Afros that swayed from the heads of models Imaan Hammam, Karly Loyce, Lineisy Montero, and Amilna Estevão. Varying in shape, size, and texture—showcasing the range and versatility of the perennial natural black hairstyle—these ’fros joined a veritable curly girl collective whose visibility is growing steadily at the Spring 2016 collections.

Although certainly no new hair phenomenon, with Afros long being a sign of black beauty and style, it’s a refreshing change of pace on the catwalk. Historically, black models have had their spirals straightened for shows, often resulting in uneven results, harrowing tales of hair damage, and an emphasis on a narrow beauty ideal. This new upswing seems to suggest a long overdue shift in thinking on diverse hair patterns, and might we say, also happens to induce plenty of curl envy?

Just look to newcomers Loyce and Montero, who, since making their debuts on the runways earlier this year, have sent ripples through the industry with their cropped and trim crowns of curls, separating the pair from an anonymous pack of new faces and pin-straight locks. This month, Loyce’s signature ’do is featured in Céline’s Fall 2015 campaign, while Montero’s striking look won her a spot opening Jason Wu and Derek Lam in New York City this season. And they’re not the only ones.

 

 

At Diane von Furstenberg on Sunday, the designer’s signature mane of ruffled curls was reimagined into two-strand twists on Anais Mali, while Estevão’s teeny-weeny Afro resembled a little bushel of tightly wound screws. Meanwhile, Josiane Monteiro’s mass of curls, Milan Dixon’s crinkled bounty of waves, and Nyamuoch Girwath’s neatly clipped ’fro played with volume and shape as much as the Rosie Assoulin designs they modeled at the Spring 2016 presentation. Even male models are making hair-raising statements, what with Telfar’s comely and sculpted man coterie sporting natural hairstyles from flops of curls to springy corkscrews to strands of dreads à la A$AP Rocky.

With the hotly anticipated show designed by Kanye West set to debut tomorrow, there is bound to be a motley of gravity-defying curls akin to those on display at his Fall 2015 presentation. Stay tuned.

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