The 5 Biggest Beauty Trends of New York Fashion Week

New York Fashion Week’s fall 2024 beauty trends were all about easy drama—the sort that comes with a life actually lived. Smudged makeup and mussed hair teamed with high-impact eyes and twee accessories for a menu of beauty moments that were retro, realistic, and effortlessly striking. 

At Helmut Lang, hairstylist Jawara created hair looks designed to echo the real lives of New Yorkers, including wet styles from getting caught in inclement weather. Scarves and kerchiefs floated into the fray as the hair accessories to watch, while braids took on extra texture through creative weaving and wear. The takeaway: We’re trying but never too hard. Here, five beauty trends that caught our eye on the fall 2024 runways. 

Stylized Braids

Plaits were woven for extra impact this season, beginning with the taut French braids at LaPointe. Snaking braid duets came accompanied by confectionary twists at the crown, those furnished with sweetly curled edges. Cornrow crowns and scalloped braids featured at Ulla Johnson, a textural counter to the show’s super-sleek low ponytails. The week ended with Thom Browne’s vertical wire-spiked braids, an ode to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven.

Umberto Fratini / Gorunway.com

Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com

Artistic Eyes

Black eyeliner and exaggerated lashes dominated the fall runways, with the classic detailing applied with out-of-the-box artistic twists. At Marc Jacobs, lashes reached preternatural, doll-like levels, while the smudges at Prabal Gurung gave a stark relief. Smudges and full rims of black shadow pulled focus at Helmut Lang, and at Alice + Olivia black-cat eyes came punctuated by a graphic white contrast. 

Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com

Lily and Lilac / Courtesy of Alice + Olivia

Scarves and Kerchiefs

Move over, ribbons: Hair scarves and kerchiefs are taking over in all of their retro-glamour glory. Sandy Liang topped hair with fabric edged in ruffles, along with leather and brocade iterations; the effect was quirky and chic. Patterned silk scarves tied beneath the chin lent to the ’60s aesthetic at Anna Sui. Regardless of your preferred head wrap, consider bad-hair days entirely thwarted. 

photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com

Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com

Lived-In Glam

The season’s best beauty has come ever-so-slightly undone. The makeup at Prabal Gurung had a smudgy, morning-after feel, while Diotima’s beauty looks were designed to evoke the end of a party well attended. At Altuzarra, loose, equestrian-inspired braids were just barely pinned in place, the hair paired with a soft grunge makeup look. 

Courtesy of Altuzarra

Wet-Look Hair

Don’t let your lengths dry out just yet. Wet-look lengths are here to stay and featured on the runways of Helmut Lang (where manes were slicked back at the crown), Prabal Gurung (damp and piecey strands splayed across foreheads), and Area (pulled into a pony at the nape of the neck). At Collina Strada, seemingly set hair was afforded appropriately idiosyncratic additions, with the brand’s emblematic star and angel wings crafted from extensions and secured on the sides of slicked styles. 

Armando Grillo / Gorunway.com

Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com