- Fashion Month is upon us, and giving way to an exciting crop of beauty trends hitting the runway beside spring ready-to-wear collections.
- So far, the looks have featured modern takes on retro looks, eye-catching juxtapositions, and impactful yet restrained looks.
- Explore the six top beauty trends to come out of New York Fashion Week.
As models make their way down runways during New York Fashion Week, it’s only after hours spent in glam. Their hair, makeup, and nail looks are carefully crafted not only to elevate the clothes, but to set the ball in motion for upcoming beauty trends.
“Trends are birthed on the runway first, and then they trickle out,” says celebrity hairstylist Lacy Redway, who has spent close to 20 years creating beauty looks for Fashion Month. “You might see something that you created at New York Fashion Week or in Europe pop up at an award show. And then you see influencers emulating some of the techniques and styles.” And while we’re still in the early days of the fall/winter 2026 season, the emerging trends are proving to be fresh and impactful.
Icy, ’90s hues got a modern refresh at the Boy London show while red nails signaled a return to bold classics at Michael Kors. Retro hairstyles influenced voluminous looks at Collina Strada, while sleek, sculptural styles got a dose of lived-in realism at Christian Siriano. And both ends of the minimalist-to-maximalist spectrum proved impactful, from a subtle smizing eye at Ulla Johnson to ludicrously long nails at Kim Shui.
Get inspired by all of the best beauty moments from New York Fashion Week, and keep an eye out for more trends to come as Fashion Month continues.
Hot Ice
MAC
Icy looks, from frosted lids to cool-toned palettes, have slowly grown in popularity over the past few years. This season, this often stark finish was softened with a hint of warmth. At Boy London, makeup artist Marike Thibaut achieved this look by gravitating to greige, a neutral that retains the frosted vibes of the early aughts but with a toasty finish for a modern edge. A similarly warm gray was used on the lids at Altuzarra, courtesy of Hannah Murray, the global artistic director at Bobbi Brown.
“During the past 10 years, makeup went from super warm tones and sophisticated makeup to an icy ’90s version that’s way more grungy and cool,” says Thibaut, who worked with MAC Cosmetics to create the looks at Boy London. “This comeback of neutral tones is taking the best of those two opposites beauty movements to propose a new vision in 2026, and create what I call ‘edgy glam.'”
Romero Jennings, MAC’s global director of makeup, created a beautifully juxtaposed look for the models at Kim Shui. The inspiration was Mongolian ice princess. To combine hot and cold, he chose a deep berry blush shade (meant to emulate skin made rosy by cool air) and applied it high on the cheekbone to meet a frosted lid. “Everybody’s blushed up, but we’ve paired it with this sort of gray, icy ’90s shadow, so she looks modern,” says Jennings. “She’s icy, but in her own way.”
Classic Reds
Alex Dani / Annis Kamara
While creativity abounds when it comes to NYFW manicures, simple and timeless looks are always in the mix, too. For the past few seasons, the French mani has been the go-to classic. But things got bolder in 2026, thanks to a slew of full-bodied red manicures. A few swipes of red polish is one of the few looks that reads both timeless and flashy. This made it a perfect choice for the models at Cinq à Sept, courtesy of Amy Ling Lin, founder of Sunday Studios, and the models at Michael Kors, courtesy of iconic manicurist Jin Soon Choi.
“The French manicure has always been elegant and safe. It’s clean and polished and provides an elegant touch of detail to your nails,” says Choi. “But red offers a more bold personality. It can feel sexy, sophisticated, powerful, or even cute on short nails. After so many seasons of minimal, neutral nails, people are ready for something stronger but still timeless. Red readily delivers that.”
Bygone Bounce
Bumble and Bumble / Tone Woolfe
Intentionally voluminous hair always feels retro and somewhat traditional—no matter how modern and mussed the styling is. That’s because serious bounce doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a level of prep and finesse that denotes skill, which carries an air of formality.
“Bounce feels like a proper set,” says Redway. To achieve it, “you have to know a thing or two about hair.” And this season, expertly coiffed va-va-voom volume was everywhere.
At Alice + Olivia, Redway drew inspiration from the early 20th century to give braids a fluffy, flouncy makeover, using products from Amika. For Anna Sui, hair stylist Garren used R + Co to create a half-up, half-down beehive that featured a deep and dramatic “’60s/’90s approach to the side part,” he says. The models at Collina Strada rocked a few different looks united by exaggerated texture.
Pictured above is the look editorial hairstylist Mustafa Yanaz calls “The Square.” “We created wigs crafted into bold geometric shapes and placed them over the models’ natural hair to create a strong architectural silhouette,” says Yanaz, who worked with Bumble and bumble. “The inspiration leaned ’80s.” The 1980s were also an inspiration for celebrity hairstylist Davey Matthew, who used milk_shake products to create sky-high ponytails for Gabe Gordon.
Smizing Eyes
Patrick McMullan / Sisley Paris
The eye looks at Ulla Jonhson and Prabal Gurung were a study in impactful minimalism. The two looks featured different techniques that both resulted in a simple yet sultry, smize-y eye. At Ulla, celebrity MUA Romy Soleimani used eyeliner to create a teeny tiny cat-eye.
“It gives intensity while working with the natural shape of the eye and lifts the eye,” says Soleimani, who worked with Sisley Paris to create the look. “It feels fresh and cool without being too much or wearing you.”
At Prabal, celebrity Sheika Daley relied on Ardell lashes and expert application to create a soft, smize-like effect. “I customized the application by slightly lifting and concentrating the lash toward the outer third of the eye to elongate and create that subtle feline energy,” says Daley. “A lash on its own can be incredibly powerful because it frames the eye instantly…sometimes restraint is the most luxurious choice.”
Soft & Sleek Structure
Dave Kotinsky / Victor Virgile
A sleek, slicked-down style often carries an air of rigidity. Neat and tidy with nary a strand out of place. This season, structured looks were softened by much- welcomed movement.
At Christian Cowan, Justine Marjan, a lead stylist for TRESemmé, created a look that beautifully marries stillness with movement: a sleek blowout that gives way to pronounced, curled-in ends. “This is inspired by the glamorous women of the 1950’s with deep side parts, smooth blowouts, and a shiny, high gloss finish,” says Marjan.
Redway, also a lead stylist for TRESemmé, sculpted a striking hair-scarf look for the models at Christian Siriano. After completing the (shockingly technical) act of securing lengths around the neck, Redway finished the look by zhuzhing the strands at the top of the head. “We added a dry texture spray as a finishing product to create natural movement, natural flyways,” says Redway. “We didn’t want everything to be so structured.”
Ornamental Tips
Instagram @misspopnails / @sojinails
Nail art often toes the line between form and function. But this season, the looks that made the highest impact eschewed function for jaw-dropping, delightfully impractical looks.
Nail artist Sojin Oh’s team used Bio Seaweed Gel to create 14 nail looks for Kim Shui, many of which were ludicrously long. “We have probably the longest nails I have seen in a very, very long time,” says nail artist Marielle Oh, who co-managed the show with Akemi Santiago. “With the resurgence of Y2k style, a lot of girls have been exploring these long, long nail looks,” says Oh. “It’s really nice, and, for lack of better words, cunty to have these extra long because nails.”
At Alice + Olivia, two of the four ethereal nail looks were finished with too-large-to-run-your-hands-through-your-hair 3D appliqués at the tips of the nail. Nail artist Miss Pop, who created these looks with Sally Hansen, says the unrealistic application is what makes these looks so luxe. It’s “nails for spectacle, not for function,” says Miss Pop. “Bejeweled nails say these hands are luxury and for luxury only. And there is something just so fabulous about that. It’s permission to just be glamorous, unapologetically.”