Nails are moving in a new direction next season.
We thought we'd seen it all: nail art, appliqués, press-ons and the like, but the New York shows were somewhat of a re-education in the nail stakes. Here's what we learnt.
Forget nail art, it's all about negative space.
When uber-mani expert Jin Soon Choi tells you something is the new big thing in nails you listen and you listen good. This is what happened when we managed to scrape a few minutes of chat amongst the chaos that was the backstage area for Prabal Gurung. For the show, Soon used a collection of shades developed between the designer and nail brand Sally Hansen to free-hand stripes onto nails, the negative space aspect comes in with the bare nail under the stripes. Simply, it looks good and we'll be giving it a go.
Instagram Filters There's unlikely to be any recent photographs of us on social media that haven't been doctored in someway and the Instagram filter, naturally, has become a girl's best friend. Now nails can get in on the action too. Essie session manicurist Michelle Saunders told us the look she was going for with the nails at Alexander Wang was that of the Valencia Instagram filter: warm, soft and flattering. This she did with two coats of Essie's Au Natural, £8.95, (a sheer, sandy beige), followed by a coat of Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat, £8.55, and a final layer of Essie Good To Go Top Coat, £8.99.
Active Length It's the new length don't you know? Forget squoval, almond, square and just about anything else, the length in New York was 'active'. Saunders describes the length as long enough to see some nail but short and rounded enough that you can still do sports and lead an 'active' lifestyle. Get it?
Finding Nude Finding the right nude nail polish to complement your skin tone is tough and there's a fine line between looking like a corpse and like you have nails at all. Jin Soon has the answer, 'whatever nude you go for make sure there's a touch of pink to it, it will suit everyone.'
Muted Nail Beds There's something we bet you've never heard of before, but the Muted Nail Bed is a 'thing' apparently. At DKNY, which featured quite an elaborate hair style, reflective skin and the most multi-cultural casting we've seen in a long time (30 per cent of whom were street cast), the nails needed to fade into the background - which is not necessarily a bad thing. Essie's Michelle Saunders at DKNY used one coat of Essie Au Natural, £8.95, followed by Essie Matte About You Top Coat, £11.95, the effect was a natural feeling, and looking, demi-matte nude nail. We loved it.