me of the most-talked-about beauty moments of the season
have come via black models whose natural hair has taken center stage. Dominican
newcomer Lineisy Montero stole the show at Pradawith her short Afro adorned
with a bejeweled barrette, and atBalenciaga, Nykhor Paul, Ajak Deng, Grace Bol,
and Mari Agory all wore close-cropped natural hair with Alexander Wang’s demure
collection.
Montero brought the style to Céline’s Paris catwalk,
where she was joined by fellow model Karly Loyce, who sported a beautiful,
larger-than-life ’fro. These looks stood out when compared with the lineup of
pin-straight ponytails and center-parted waves, but they also differed from how
we typically see black models on the runways. Relaxed hair, often enhanced with
extensions, has become the norm, and the majority of models from supers like
Naomi Campbell and Joan Smalls onward wear some variation of the look.
“It’s very unusual to see a girl with a natural Afro
texture these days,” says Redken creative director and the hairstylist behind
Prada and Céline, Guido Palau. “Most girls have their hair relaxed or a lot of
hair extensions or it has to be blown out to ‘fit in’ with the look of the
other girls.”
The popularity of weaves and straightened styles is a
fraught issue, with complex sociopolitical implications—the natural hair
movement has been discussed by everyone from Chris Rock in the documentary Good
Hair to Oprah Winfrey in the pages of her eponymous magazine. For a model,
however, the choice between natural and relaxed often has a lot to do with
image. Agencies frequently give new models makeovers, shaping diamonds in the
rough with career-altering haircuts.
“I always brushed my hair in a ponytail,” says Montero.
“The president of my mother agency, Sandro Guzman, told me that he wanted to
cut it and do a natural Afro. When I saw it in the mirror, I loved it. This was
all done before the final night of the Ossygeno Models Competition, where I
ended up being one of the winners.”
Photo: Monica Feudi / Feudiguaineri.com
Source - www.style.com
0 comments :
Post a Comment