NYFW's Boldest, Brightest Hair Colors Are Outside The Shows

It’s all part of the stereotypical early 2000s coming-of-age experience. In your sophomore year of high school you ditch your pink dresses for head-to-toe black, swap out the Backstreet Boys CD in your Walkman for My Chemical Romance, start rimming your eyes with smudged kohl liner, and you’re desperate to get rid of your chunky blonde highlights and experiment with Manic Panic’s vibrant hair dyes. It was all a part of teenage angst, but if you didn’t end up being brave enough to rebel with the brand’s unorthodox hues back then, it’s not too late. Throughout New York Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2025 season, the biggest street style stars have been spotted outside the shows with bold neon hair colors.

As demonstrated by show-goers, there’s no right or wrong way to test drive this trend. Yes, even neon hues are customizable. You can opt to go extra bright with cherry red or tropical pink. Or if you can’t decide, opt for a gradient dye job or incorporate various shades into your next protective style. Consider it the Choose Your Own Adventure of hair colors, or a creative way to beat the impending winter blues. How could you not get a serotonin boost whenever you look in the mirror if you have yellow hair?

Ahead, get inspired to think outside of the box the next time you’re due for a new hair color, or simply live vicariously through these NYFW attendees.

Lived-In Cotton Candy Pink

Sure, bold hair colors are generally high-maintenance, but as street style star Tina Leung demonstrates, letting your color fade a bit looks effortlessly cool.

Cherry Red High Pony

Fall is typically associated with deep, rich hair colors, but why go with the status quo? While copper red hair continues to trend going into the season, take a cue from this show-goer and up the ante with vibrant cherry red.

Highlighter Yellow Pixie

As the days get shorter and darker the deeper we get into fall, a highlighter-yellow pixie cut as seen on the streets of NYFW, is a much-needed serotonin boost.

Multicolored Twists

Contrary to what you might believe, an all-over dye job isn’t the only way to partake in the neon hair color trend. Instead, this NYFW guest opted to weave strands of red, yellow, and white into her twists.

Gradient Pink Curls

The old adage ‘birds of a feather flock together’ is applicable to neon hair colors, too. Case in point: This attendee with gradient pink curls tapped a friend with magenta highlights to snap a shot of her en route to her next show.

Sleek Fire Engine Red

New Yorkers are known around the world for their affinity for wearing black. And one of the many reasons to lean into the fashion stereotype is wearing the color head-to-toe makes fire engine red hair really pop. Consider this attendee’s look your reference material.

Tropical pink

Pastel pink has been the go-to shade for anyone looking to dip their toes into unconventional hair colors for the first time, but if you’re dying to keep the warm weather vibes flowing well into fall, look no further than this show-goer’s tropical-inspired hue.

Orange-Red Ponytail

Mary J. Blige always stands out in a crowd, but the R&B legend really turned heads amid NYFW’s style stars outside of the Off-White show with her orange-red high ponytail and blunt bangs.