runway beauty

Chanel Says Yes, Keep Wearing Barrettes

Grace Elizabeth’s head, Penélope Cruz, and Kaia Gerber’s head wearing barrettes at Chanel F/W 2019. Photo: Getty Images

Earlier this year, we asked: should we all start wearing barrettes? After taking a look at Chanel’s wintry fall 2019 runway at Paris Fashion Week, the answer is: yeah, do it. Everyone’s wearing them, including Penélope Cruz who closed Karl Lagerfeld’s final show in a fun feathery one that was hanging out with a bow.

Sam McKnight, the hairstylist responsible for the look, focused on the classics for the farewell to the designer. He played up each models’ “natural cool girl textures,” and gave them half-up, half-down hair with center parts. Then, he decorated the back of each look with a variety of pretty hair accessories ranging from bows (a Chanel favorite) to barrettes (currently everyone’s favorite.)

Some clips were shaped like ice skates or snowflakes, which were fitting for the Alpine-themed show; others were shaped like hearts or camellias, the iconic Chanel flower. Some were feathery and soft, others were sparkly and hard. Some sat upon black bows tied with grosgrain ribbon, and others simply spelled out “Chanel” in cursive pearls. There was something for everyone, depending on how hard you want to go with hair accessories:

An introductory ribbon for the beginner.

A linear barrette with some flair for intermediates.

A colorful, multi-barrette cluster for the more experienced.

Other McKnight creations created backstage include the hair-ribbon-under-hat combo for those who like to push the boundaries, and the oversize-flower-barrette-on-top-of-a-ribbon for the indecisive.

Mix and match until you find what combo you and your hair like best. And take your time, it looks like clips, bows, and barrettes will be around for a while.

Chanel Confirms We Should Keep Wearing Barrettes