These Are the Most Intricate and Creative Manicures From Fashion Week So Far

When it comes to the nails at Autumn/Winter 2020 Fashion Week, it's all in the details.

For beauty editors, fashion month — whether in New York, London, Paris, or Milan — is unsurprisingly, all about the hair, makeup, and nails [1]. We're the first to spot the emerging trends, whether that's the hairstyle that'll soon be taking over our Instagram feeds, the best way to wear vibrant eye shadow [2], or the nail art design you'll be asking your manicurist for.

This season, the nail art was incredibly intricate. Manicurists spent hours painstakingly hand-painting complex designs ahead of the show, or gluing teensy gems onto the models' fingers, sometimes mere minutes before they step out onto the runway.

At Prabal Gurung's show during NYFW, nail artist Miss Pop [3] created an angled half-moon design in a Zoya maroon-red hue, which gave a twist on the french manicure (it's making a huge comeback [4]), giving it a minimalist-yet-modern feel.

For London Fashion Week, the "lipstick" nail shape (which is hugely popular in South Korea [5]) debuted at Charlotte Knowles, led by manicurist Lauren Michelle Pires [6]. And there was no shortage of nail accessories this season. For Simone Rocha, Ama Quashie [7]'s team made "crystal waves" using white and black Swarovski crystals that ran along the side and tip of the nail. Oh, and it just so happens to be the perfect wedding manicure [8], so file that in the wedding Pinterest board you pretend not to have.

Ahead, get a closer look at all of our favourite polish shades and nail art designs from Autumn/Winter 2020 fashion month, so far.

16Arlington's Red Swoop Nails at LFW Autumn 2020

16Arlington just served up my next manicure. The design was almost a hybrid of the half-moon and a french manicure, one that we shall now call the "swooped manicure." Led by Anatole Rainey [9], the team used crimson-red polish that went across that tip of the nails and followed down one outer edge to the base, creating the swooped effect.

Chromat's Ombré Curved Line Nails at NYFW Autumn 2020

The nails at Chromat featured not only an ombre base, but also ombré lines that criss-crossed at different spots across each nail. Done in three different colour variations — but all on long, almond-shaped nails — the swooping lines mimicked the patterns in the collection.

Halpern's Matte Glittered Nails at LFW Autumn 2020

The nails at Halpern were matte and long, and this set had the added bonus of being sparkly, too. Nail artist Marian Newman [10], using CND polishes, created this matte black set that had glitter pink half-moons at the base of the nail, and if you look really closely, had tiny tips, which were given a glossy finish.

Charlotte Knowles's Lipstick Shaped Nails at LFW Autumn 2020

Sometimes a strong, unexpected nail shape can catch our eye as much as an intricate pattern or smattering of crystals. To complement the collection at Charlotte Knowles's show, Lauren Michelle Pires [11] led her team in creating the lipstick-shaped tips (a popular trend in South Korea [12]) painted in a walnut shade (seen here), as well as turquoise, neutral, and lime green.

Charlotte Knowles's Burgundy Ombré at LFW Autumn 2020

Pires also created an ombré version of her lipstick-shaped tips at Charlotte Knowles. She created the look by applying a cream-coloured base and then brushing a burgundy hue onto the bottom half of the nails.

Prabal Gurung’s Swooped Stiletto Nails at NYFW Autumn 2020

At Prabal Gurung's show during NYFW, nail artist Miss Pop [13] used Zoya in shade Alyssa, a deep cranberry colour, to create a thick, half-moon design, leaving a bare, circular space at the base of the nail. The look combined the negative space and french manicure trends for an elegant and unexpected design.

Preen's Golden Fingers at LFW Autumn 2020

Gold, gold, and more gold was the theme of Preen, which looked at Renaissance paintings and sculptures for inspiration. To translate that onto the nails, manicurist Adam Slee [14] brushed thin layers of gold polish onto the nails, bringing the paint down past the cuticles and onto the fingers. Then, he pressed pieces of real gold leaf — left over from what the makeup artists were placing on the models' faces and ears — onto each finger, adding a three-dimensional element that mimicked the chunky earrings in the collection.

Rag and Bone's Black-and-White Marble Nails at NYFW Autumn 2020

Rag and Bone featured some of the most vast and intricate designs of the season. This particular design was created using a black base with white polish added on top and swirled around to form a marble effect.

Rag and Bone Nail Designs at NYFW Autumn 2020

Manicurist Mei Kawajiri [15] created a total of 840 nails for the Rag and Bone show, nail artist Jay Deau [16] — who worked on Kawajiri's team backstage — wrote in her Instagram post. There were various designs that were all incredibly different from each other, including an adorable mushroom design, eye balls, jewels, and a croc pattern (seen here). You name the nail design, it was probably on the nails at Rag and Bone.

Simone Rocha’s Swarovski Crystal Corners at LFW Autumn 2020

The nails at Simone Rocha featured crystals, crystals, and more crystals, and it's got to be one of our favourite designs yet. Ama Quashie [17] led the team (which included Sadie Jordan [18] — one of our favourite London-based manicurists) in creating another swooped design. The look started with a glossy clear base, then had one large Swarovski crystal stuck on the edge of the nail with four smaller crystals running along the tip and the inner edge of the nail.

Simone Rocha's Black Crystal Nails at LFW Autumn 2020

The second design at Simone Rocha featured the same style but using black crystals.

Tommy Hilfiger's Neon Green Nails at LFW Autumn 2020

It was all about the neon nail at Tommy Hilfiger's show. Nail artist Marian Newman used the brightest shades from new vegan nail polish brand Peacci, painting them on every single model for the show — including the boys.

Lela Rose's Crystal-Embellished Nails at NYFW Autumn 2020

Another perfect wedding manicure debuted at Lela Rose in New York. For a superglossy, sheer-pink base, Rita Remark [19] used Essie polish in Hi Maintenance. Then, she added three crystals along the cuticles of the ring and index fingers, creating two beautiful — and twinkly — accent nails.

Anna Sui's Bold Black Nails at NYFW Autumn 2020

Sometimes, a manicure doesn't have to be over complicated. Models for Anna Sui wore a supershiny black shade to complement the vampy makeup.

Ashish's Oversized Bead Nails at LFW Autumn 2020

For Ashish's show, Ama Quashie [20] brought back nail jewellery in a big way, literally, hanging an oversized, teardrop-shaped bead from the tip of the middle finger. The team used Peacci nail polish in a rainbow of colours including pink, black, silver, gold, white, and purple, all of which complemented the vibrant runway collection perfectly.

GCDS's Long, Pink Nails at MFW Autumn 2020

Superlong nails were at the forefront of the GCDS show in Milan, we particularly love this pretty pink hue.

Olivia Rubin's Colourful Scalloped Design at LFW Autumn 2020

Olivia Rubin just provided us with our new nail art inspiration. Ama Quashie used 10 Essie shades to create this mix-matched scalloped design. The bright colour combinations painted on the tip of each nail is definitely a trend we're going to try in 2020.

Emilio Pucci's Logo Nails at MFW Autumn 2020

Emilio Pucci made the logo front and centre of the nail design with black and mauve design.

Giambattista Valli's Crystal Nails at PFW Autumn 2020

Giambattista Valli just gave us the ultimate wedding day manicure [21] inspiration with this light pink manicure embellished with crystals across the mid section of each nail.

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