From '80s-Inspired Hair to the 2010 Smoky Eye: Fashion Month Put These 7 Bold Beauty Trends Back in Motion
What's old is new.
Fashion month might be finished, but that doesn't mean we've stopped thinking about it. In fact, it's been living in our heads rent-free. From New York to London, Paris, and Milan, it was a four-week whirlwind of long days, late nights, and hurrying from one show to the next. As always, we were there, reporting on it all—from A-list attendees to backstage hubbub to era-defining aesthetics and beyond.
After sorting through thousands of notes, pictures, and collections, we're finally ready to discuss the biggest beauty moments. As editors, we know fashion month doesn't just predict the following year's beauty trends. It directly dictates them. In spring and summer 2027, you can expect a return to unapologetic "look at me" aesthetics. Think '80s-inspired crimped hair, hazy purple eye makeup, and the refined smoky eye we haven't seen since 2010. Ahead, see the seven biggest and boldest beauty trends to emerge from fashion month.
Crimped Hair
Crimped hair is a "love it or hate it" look with a long and storied history in the beauty universe. It was initially popular in the '80s, when big, loud hair was in. Since then, it's made its way back in the late '90s, early 2000s, and 2026 following the Wuthering Heights hysteria.
Instead of a full crimp, designers are betting on selective crimped sections. It creates a cool pattern—crimped, smooth, and back again. At Christian Cowan, celebrity hairstylist Justine Marjan punctuated tousled, windswept ponytails with small crimped pieces. At Christian Siriano, celebrity hairstylist Lacy Redway created her signature "enchanted crimp" look, which involved selectively placing horizontal crimp panels in the models' hair. Take this as your sign: It's time to dust off your hair crimper for the upteenth time.
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Purple Gaze
There's no doubt about it. Purple is 2026's top color trend, and fashion month just doubled down on it for 2027. (Who What Wear senior beauty editor Jamie Chevron has been reporting on this trend for months—long before New York Fashion Week solidified it.) At Akris, models wore romantic lilac-dusted lids. At Casablanca, models wore shimmery plum eye shadow, and at Vaquera, a wash of neon purple complemented sleek, spiked hair and glittery lips. The fashion crowd isn't finicky about the exact shade, whether lavender, amethyst, or anything in between. Just pack on your favorite purple eye shadow, and you'll be ahead of the curve.
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Power Volume
If it wasn't clear already, the '80s are fashion's favorite decade to reference right now. Crimped hair! Royal purple! And now, it's big, bold, bouncy volume that my colleague Jamie coined "power volume." It's the stuff of shoulder pads, leg warmers, and Lycra.
Stella McCartney styled models with lots of body and movement throughout their wavy-curly styles. Magda Butrym paired lifted roots with fluffy waves, bringing a young Brooke Shields to mind. Meanwhile, LaQuan Smith sent models down the runway with sky-high, backcombed hair. The message is loud and clear: Sleek hair is out. It's time to invest in volumizing mousse, dry texturizing spray, and hot rollers. The latter is an old-school secret to achieving gravity-defying bounce.
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Loud Lips
Sorry, but the fashion crowd isn't interested in classic red lipstick for spring and summer 2027, and don't even think about bringing up nude lipstick. Bold, expressive, and unorthodox shades feel the freshest. Whether it's Burberry's lavender lips, Valentino's fiery pink ones, or Verdavainne's true orange aesthetic, 2027 will be all about saturated satin and matte lipsticks. Sure, it's not the most wearable trend, but it's not supposed to be. Far from catering to the faint of heart, this trend is about being unapologetic and embracing your unique expression.
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The Refined Smoky Eye
We're in the midst of a smoky-eye renaissance. Last season, designers embraced messy kohl-rimmed eyes. As it's imperfect and lived-in, we called this look "IDGAF eye makeup." It was perfectly aligned with Charli XCX's Brat summer.
This season, designers are taking a more refined, polished, and expensive-looking approach. At Conner Ives, models wore charcoal eye shadow, topped with subtle shimmer and blended with finesse. At Giorgio Armani, hazy cinder and espresso eye shadow created a confident, powerful vibe. At Gucci, the makeup look came straight out of a mid-2000s time machine. Think tightlined eyes, smoky outer corners, and shimmery lids. The high-fashion way to wear a smoky eye is no longer messy. It's elegant and entirely on purpose.
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Icy Accents
Silver is usually associated with winter, but fashion month flipped the usual script on its head—as it so often does. So many designers embraced a sleek metallic aesthetic. Vaquera sent models down the runway with chrome nails and glitter-encrusted lips. At Christian Dior, Peter Philips, creative and image director of Christian Dior Makeup, paired luminous skin and windswept hair with silver glitter eye shadow. He applied the latter to the outer corner of the models' eyes. The aesthetic he was going for? "A surfer girl that goes to a rave." Even Chanel embraced the icy trend. Chanel makeup artist Lucia Pieroni applied metallic shadow on the models' eyelids and brow bones.
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Windswept Structure
The season of the slick-back is over, according to brands such as Christian Dior, Stella McCartney, and Erdem. The first embraced a surfer aesthetic, and models walked the runway with a breezy, beachy texture. The second allowed natural flyaways to hover around tight updos. And the third featured a wild, windswept look. It was almost as if the models walked straight onto the runway after traveling down brisk London streets. It's all about enhancing hair texture, not hiding it.
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