School was in session on the rooftop at New York City’s New Design High School on the Lower East Side for Dion Lee’s SS20 presentation. The late afternoon sunlight softened the stone and steel runway surrounded by graffiti artwork, setting the mood for a show that conveyed a tough elegance.
The collection featured lingerie inspired elements worn externally, such as harnesses from waist to shoulders or worn as an external garter in soft shades of cream paired with shorts or skirts and thigh-high boots to reveal peeks of skin. It also included body-hugging knits, low-slung tailored pants and bandanna patterned lightweight halter-tops and dresses, punctuated with oversized or mini structural handbags.
When it came to the hair, Wella Professionals Global Creative Director of Care & Styling Eugene Souleiman knew he wanted his looks to portray “cool, real” people of New York to complement the clothing.
Souleiman said, “We wanted to do something that was stylishly tough. There are really three key themes: Kurt Cobain look with a headband, textured cornrows and a low-slung fishtail braid, some with center parts and some with pulled back hair for a more masculine feeling. I wanted the models to look and feel themselves and to leave the show wearing their styles.”
How to Get the Look
One of the looks was a street chic fishtail braid, smooth at the crown and neatly pulled back into a low fishtail braid from the nape of the neck down to the ends of the hair.
1) Begin by misting the hair with water and blow-drying the strands with an extra-large round natural bristle brush to smooth hair.
2) Use a fine-tooth comb to create a defined center part. Alternatively, pull all of the hair back with no part.
3) Next, mist Wella EIMI Stay Firm ($18) for soft control, starting at the crown and down the lengths.
4) Then, comb hair down from center part towards the back to control flyaway strands. To maintain the sleek hair on top of the head, secure a fine-mesh flat fabric net from ear to ear around the back of the head to hold the hair in place while forming the fishtail braid.
5) Create a fishtail braid by pulling hair back into a ponytail and splitting it into two equal sections. Take a piece from the left side and pass it over to the right side. Then, take a new piece from the outside of the right side and pass it back to the left side. Each piece will fall into the center (the break between the two sections of hair), and then grab it, taking it over to one side. Repeat the motion all the way down the braid making the sections as uniform as possible. Secure with an elastic.
6) While the flat hair net is still in place, blow-dry the crown to lock in the smooth strands from the top of the head and through to the lengths.
Photos: IMAXtree.com
