Image: Getty
Giambattista Valli has a thing for all that is gorgeous and glittering. In previous seasons, it’s been makeup artist Val Garland who lent a hand with iridescence for his shows, from slashes of prismatic pigment across the brow bone to holographic face veilings as seen last season. But for Spring, the sparkling proverbial torch was passed to hair pro Paul Hanlon—and the results were nothing short of dreamy.
While each girl in the show sported an individualized natural texture with a bedhead twist, the rumpled bends of a few girls were awash in monochromatic glitter from mid-lengths to ends, creating an ethereal ombré effect as they wafted down the runway in the collection’s whimsical floral prints. “Giambattista had me look at old photographs of [traditional] Indian ceremonies where colorful powders are thrown everywhere,” explained Hanlon backstage, who misted custom-mixed shimmering color sprays in bright pastels on the hair, then dipped into coordinated loose glitter pigment pots, brushing the gleaming flecks on top to amp up the drama of each glowing mane.
Newcomer Hanna Kamelina’s freshly ultraviolet-dipped lob was dusted in fluorescent silver like newly fallen snow, while Russian beauty Jolie Alien’s pale blonde lengths were covered in ruby red sparkles for a more saturated take. “There’s a bit of a Courtney Love thing to it,” said Hanlon, with a grin. “It’s very ’90s—I can imagine her [rocking out] with it on stage with Hole.”
Haphazard applications of glitter, of course, are bold by nature—but Hanlon underlines that Valli’s version is a softer, more wearable take on free-spirited sparkle. “When it’s too extreme or conceptual, it becomes almost like a costume and you lose one’s identity,” he explains, insisting that today’s execution with a lighter hand is—relatively speaking—fit for the real world. Think shimmering, quietly decadent party hair. Or, at the very least, a sophisticated new spin on beauty for the festival circuit. The Giambattista Valli girl takes Burning Man? As indicated by the earthy prints on frothy bohemian silhouettes, it’s well within the realm of possibility.
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This article first appeared on Vogue.com
