(Hair)
Two New Ways To Wear A Chignon, Courtesy Of New York Fashion Week
Unexpected updates to the classic.
Classic hairstyles are classic for a reason — they can be pulled out at a moment's notice and work in myriad situations. Take, for example, the chignon. The traditional take on this 'do looks just at home at your senior prom as it does at a wedding. But Fall 2020's take on the chignon bun is something a bit different. Instead of loose, etherial styles, these twists are structured, slick, and sexy.
At Naeem Khan's Fall 2020 show in New York on Feb. 11, Aveda lead hairstylist Jon Reyman created a tube-shaped chignon that sat directly at ear-level. "We wanted something very architectural, but still chic," he tells TZR. "The traditional chignon would usually sit a bit lower, but we wanted it higher so you got an interesting silhouette from the front."
Reyman created this structural look by starting with a dramatic side part which he slicked back using Aveda's Volumizing Tonic. Once secured in a ponytail, he spritzed the whole thing down with the brand's Control Force Hairspray.
Then, the real magic happened. Reyman took the ponytail, flipped it up vertically, and secured the center of the loose hair with pins about an inch about the ponytail elastic. He then guided the hair back down, shaping it into a tube, before tucking the loose ends under and securing it with more pins and hairspray.
And while the chignon was gorgeous on its own, it also served as a perfect base for the whimsical hair accessories, designed by Naeem Khan, that adorned the models' hair.
There was a similar, structural chignon at Prabal Gurung's Fall 2020 show. "I find chignons can be repetitive and boring," says Laurent Phillipon, lead hairstylist for Bumble and Bumble. To combat that, he opted for a low, tight, slick chignon that was super shiny.
Phillipon started by center parting the hair and slicking it back into a low, tight ponytail. He then tied elastics down the ponytail, evenly spacing them out. "We then saturate the hair with Bumble and Bumble Gel Oil," Phillipon tells TZR. "It needs to be flexible."
Instead of wrapping the hair, Phillipon folded the hair against the head, allowing it to bend the way it wanted to organically before securing it with pins. The result was a chic, yet easy to achieve ponytail that you could easily replicate at home.
Just because the chignon is a classic, that doesn't mean you can't find new ways to embrace it. And for Fall 2020, tight, structured chignons are in.
