NYFW: when balletcore goes grunge

New York Fashion Week is drawing to a close, but between big debuts like Peter Do's under the creative direction of Helmut Lang and the anticipation of what we'll be wearing in the SS24 season, one trend already seems to be emerging: Balletcore. For more than a year, the aesthetic inspired by classic ballerinas and the world of dance, along with cutecore and coquette, has been depopulating TikTok, infecting celebrities like Ariana Grande or Jennie Kim of BLACKPINK and brands like Simone Rocha and Miu Miu with its cuteness and lightness. Leotards, gauntlets, tutus, tulle skirts, stretch bodices, sweethearts, pastels and ballerinas have dominated the wardrobes of many of us for quite some time and, according to the latest fashion shows, will continue to do so in the coming months, influencing both our dressing and beauty styles. But with a new interpretation that is less prissy, more imperfect and modern, almost like grunge. What does that mean? That we can't do without ribbons, chignons, hyper femininity and a pinch of sweet glamour, but from make-up to hairstyle, we will learn to combine these elements with a rebellious vibe that is perfect for a kind of dancing emo girl.

From Christian Siriano to Collina Strada, here is how NYFW brands have reinterpreted balletcore in terms of beauty.

Christian Siriano

To celebrate the brand's 15th anniversary, Christian Siriano presented a ballet-inspired collection of tulle skirts, corsets, ruffles, pink lace shoes and ribbons on the runway. Sofia Schwarzkopf-Tilbury designed the make-up look. She combined a quirky cat eye with a cool pink glitter shade from Charlotte Tilbury's The Uptown Girl palette on the eyelids and a layer of Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur on the lips and cheeks. The finishing touch? A shimmery nude pink for the manicure, created by nail artist Julie Kandalec using an Essie product: a base of Polished and Poised with Birthday Girl on top. The most interesting element of the beauty was the hair. Lacy Redway created two different but equally interesting hairstyles, embellished with ribbons and inspired by the fairytale dresses Siriano showed her at the fitting: "My inspiration began with the clothes. The moment I saw the soft hues, rich fabrication and beautiful layering of the tulle detailing of the dresses in Christian's atelier, I knew I had to keep the hair soft to best support the looks, with a clean-girl aesthetic but put together the way you would expect a ballerina fairy to twirl down the runway." For the first look, the braided corset, Redway gathered her hair into two inverted French braids and twisted the ends into a low ballerina chignon ending at the nape of her neck. She then hand-braided a pink ribbon on each side so that it looked tight and sewed it together with a needle, like the one that closes a real corset. To achieve the desired result, the hairdresser used products from Tresemme: Thermal Creations Heat Protection Spray, Two Extra Hold Mousse and Tres Two Extra Hold Hair Spray. The second look, on the other hand, left the hair long and straight, but still with ribbons as a decorative element. Redway attached very long ribbons vertically to the scalp under the hair and let them hang freely so that they extended far beyond the natural hair length.

Alice + Olivia

At Alice + Olivia, Matthew Curtis used Living Proof products to create bridal hairstyles with pearls, modular ponytails and elegant braided chignon hairstyles with ribbons. How Curtis and the beauty professionals at Sola Salons created a textured base for the hairstyle using Living Proof's Full Dry Volume & Texture Spray. Then they divided the hair into two braids and twisted them into a chignon. Finally, they wrapped a white or red ribbon around the base of the chignon and tied it into a bow at the bottom. The result? A romantic but interesting ballet-style hairstyle.

Collina Strada

Collina Strada is the brand that put a grunge twist on balletcore, at least in terms of beauty. That's thanks to Evanie Frausto, who gave the models a wood nymph and pixie look reminiscent of fairytalecore. On the hairstyle concept, Frausto said, "It's an evolution of the looks we've created together in previous seasons, continuing a bedraggled but organic style with a touch of sophistication to create a controlled, messy look." And how? He created a series of woven looks, each tailored to each model's aesthetic to enhance their individual style. The finishing touches were the ribbons, which he also cut with a razor to de-emphasise the fabric. For the Frausto finish, she used products from Bumble and bumble: Prep Primer and Hairdresser's Invisible Dry Oil Finishing Spray. 

Helmut Lang

For Peter Do's debut at Helmut Lang, Jawara opted for a sophisticated, clean approach with hints of the 1990s. The inspiration came from the effortless and somewhat grunge vibe of the old Helmut Lang shows. So he decided to style the hair very neatly, but not too neatly, with a sense of unkemptness, as if it were "undone" The idea was to mimic dirty hair by applying lots of product to make the hair look unwashed, and to recreate the 1990s rake comb hairstyle on the models' heads, or alternatively to do an uncut back of the head knot with loose, unruly ends. To achieve a "clean 90s knot"," he started with a ponytail, which he then twisted back on itself, leaving about five centimetres of hair at the ends and secured with a hair clip. He then attached thin bands of black ribbon about five centimetres from the models' hairline and held them in place with double-sided tape. Dyson appliances such as the Corrale straightener and Supersonic hairdryer were used for the styling, along with a mixture of Bumble and Bumble products.

Mirror Palais 

The most romantic take on hair bands on the NYFW SS24 catwalks? The ones by Mirror Palais. In a backstage interview, designer Marcelo Gaia explained that he was inspired by "Sailor Moon" and the ribbons that wrap around the anime character during transformation. In fact, the satin ribbons were used in an extremely chic way: they served both as hair accessories and as a necklace when they were tied around the models' curls and their necks at the same time. The secret to a wow effect? Long, flowing, slightly wavy hair.