Twice a year, New York Fashion Week descends upon the city in a tsunami of style—and with it comes a trend-inspiring wave of beauty that accompanies, but shouldn’t come second to, its runway counterparts. We beauty editors are often buzzing around backstage to get inside scoops on the hair, makeup, and nail looks that will soon float down the runway, closing the loop on every ensemble and sending those final, subtle messages that the designer intended. Think: windswept, tousled hair giving life to the too-busy-for-beauty citydweller that inspired Simkhai S/S 26, or the watercolor eye shadow at Sandy Liang’s last show that actualized the collection’s “sleepy girl” muse (per the show’s lead makeup artist, Charlie Riddle, in a previous interview with Who What Wear).
Last season, we used our forecasting skills to predict which beauty trends would have major moments on the most influential American runways, and we accurately predicted a handful: wearing hair as an outfit (never forget Collina Strada’s literal take on “hat hair”), and sculptural updos (as seen at Prabal Gurung and Luar), to name a few. Instead of playing psychic this time, we decided to throw our beauty manifestations out into the void—speaking them into existence, if you will.
Though it feels like September fashion week was just yesterday, we’ve observed a stark shift in our beauty appetites as we gaze towards the fall and winter of 2026. Gone are our desires for slicked hairstyles and hard shapes, and to simple, pristine makeup looks, we bid au revoir. Perhaps it’s the artist’s response to AI, but we, the people, no longer seek perfection on our stages. WWW beauty editors crave artistic storytelling, individuality, and creative mess—in short, we want to feel something, and the below give us butterflies.
7 Beauty Trends We Hope to See at NYFW
Nail Jewelry
If there’s one trend we’re salivating for more of, it’s bedecked manicures. “More nail jewelry, please!” cries senior beauty editor Jamie Schneider. “We saw the trend last season at Kim Shui, and I’ve been loving Betina Goldstein’s stylish takes lately,” she explains, spotlighting the earring-like charms that dangled from models’ extensions at Kim Shui’s S/S 25 show—courtesy of Los Angeles-based brand Kijibae—and celebrity manicurist Goldstein’s recent hoop-pierced sets. “I would love to see iterations that make nails feel even more like chic little accessories,” she adds.
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