It's typical that designers have a go-to look after getting their groove in the fashion week circuit. Often, these classic styles tend to be sleek, yet mussy, hair and fresh skin, which are beautiful in their own right . But if AREA's Fall/Winter 2020 show, held on Feb. 9 in NYC, is any indication, the powers that be are opting for a more glamorous turn. Specifically, AREA wants you to wear crystals in your hair.
"This is my third season with AREA, and we like to play with the idea of crystals in the hair every season" says lead hairstylist Jawara, working with Mr. Smith. "And we keep getting crazier and crazier every time." But this season, the crystal obsession truly hit a crescendo, with crystal wigs that wrapped around the neck, creating a kind of scarf/cap hybrid.
But the inspiration wasn't crystals to begin with. "We were really smitten by these 1970s catalogues, where the hair was disheveled, and caught in the coat a bit, and looked a little knotted," Jawara tells TZR. So most of the girls got a loose version of this inspiration — blowouts that were then swept into a loose side knot at the base of the neck. To achieve the big, beautiful blowouts that were the foundation of the look, Jawara applied Mr. Smith Mousse, followed by a healthy mist of the brand's Hairspray.
Then, things began to expand. "For a few girls, we wanted to give a more modern feel, so we actually wrapped the hair around the neck, kind of like a scarf," Jawara says. To get the hair to lay well around the neck, he relied on Mr. Smith The Foundation for grip. "And then we went really crazy with the idea, so we thought we'd do it with crystals, too."
He and his team created a handful of crystal wigs that were sewn onto models' hair, and then wrapped around their necks to create a scarf look. Each crystal wig weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds. "But don't worry — it's not like the girls are under any kind of bondage or anything," Jawara said with a laugh.
Since the hair was so intense, MAC key makeup artist Kanako Takase decided to keep things a little more subtle with the makeup. "We wanted the attention to be more on the clothes and the hair," she tells TZR. So each girl got a nude, sculpted look that matched their skin tone. Takase applied MAC's new Powder Kiss Eyeshadow, which launches in summer 2020, in a variety of shades.
"If they don't have brows, or have a lighter brow, we're drawing on a thin, '90s inspired line," Takase says. "If they have a thicker brow, we're just leaving it as-is." The face was sculpted with MAC's Studio Fix Sculpt & Shape Palette. One girl, who had a shaved head, actually got crystal appliqués adhered to her head and face to match some of the crystal motifs in the clothing.
And while a full crystal wig may be a little outside of your comfort zone, the message at AREA is clear: Sparkles are in. So if you've been waiting to pull your your bedazzled headbands and hair accessories, now is the time to rock them.
