New York Fashion Week is upon us, and I've already hit up six shows, the first being Aussie designer and stylist Michael Angel. Michael is known for his psychedelic prints—they're very youthful and fresh, perfect for "It Girls" from every corner of the globe.
This time out the catwalk gate, Michael kept his dresses cropped shorter than short, and the silhouettes were sculpted with stiff, sloping lines for a bit of futuristic fun. He also had these fabulous sheer, fleshtone sleeves coated with dazzling Swarovski crystals. As stylist Rachel Zoe would say, "I die." It all reminded me of Balenciaga's Spring 2003 neoprene dresses (shape) and Alexander McQueen's Spring 2009 kaleidoscope patterns (print).
Of course, I was there for the hair, and Thomas Dunkin delivered it using Sebastian Professional products. The look is simple—a ponytail perched at the occipital bone—but as with all backstage beauty, a ton of thought and product went into its formation. "Michael's bold, beautiful elaborate prints are really youthful and playful, yet elegant and sexy at the same time. Because of the prints, the hair shouldn't be this big extravaganza," he tells me. Thomas wants a ponytail that bounces and has movement—"no skinny ponytails that look weighed down!"—and he uses "tons" of Sebastian Thickefy Foam to achieve this. "Then we're finishing it off with a little bit of Shine Define. You actually put it on your hands rather than directly on the hair, then just touch the flyways you want to tame," he says, adding, "this makes it so the hair doesn't looked weighed down by product."
I point out that the test pictures of the ponytail on the wall show a girl with a roughed-up crown, and Thomas says, yep, after all that primping and perfecting with the Shine Define, he goes back through and "randomly plays with a few pieces. There's nothing too groomed. Nothing too destroyed. I just didn't want it to look too polished because the clothes are really tailored, so the hair needs to be a little bit disheveled," he says.
(Credits: Runway: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week; all others: Karie L. Frost)
