Low chignons and haute braids: the story behind the hair at Valentino couture

Share

8th Jul 2019

“We went with the personality of the girls. Some of them had very tight braids on the hair, some of them short little haircuts, fringes and little caps of hair,” Guido Palau tells post the Valentino haute couture autumn/winter ’19/‘20 show, aka one of the most anticipated shows of the week. “But the main group of girls had a low chignon, a loop and I put braids on either side of the parting and brought it down, wrapping it right down to create the style. It has a romantic beauty and the braids were incorporated into that,” says Palau, the seasoned hairstylist and global creative director for Redken.

Palau’s array of looks riffed off the models’ personalities. From ornate headdresses to closely cropped hair that was brushed forward, some of the girls’ cuts were almost left alone, while others, a handful, walked with sleek ponytails and shiny, immaculate centre partings. All befitting the wintry couture vision Pierpaolo Piccioli had for his new-season collection. “The Seventies thing is a real Valentino aesthetic,” Palau explains, “but this was a Victorian kind of hair with a to the Seventies.” 

It was a significant departure from last winter’s extravagant Sixties bouffants he carefully crafted for Piccioli’s celebrated couture show.

The idea of uniformity (including the hair) was gracefully sidestepped and the spirit of unique individualism was elevated. As the show unfolded through the network of lofty rooms at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, the message was clear – be your best self.

Image credit: Gorunway.com.

Guido Palau’s step-by-step guide to haute couture Valentino hair: 

1. Start with freshly washed hair using Redken Nature + Science All Soft Shampoo and Conditioner, then blow-dry smooth with a small amount of Redken Frizz Dismiss Rebel Tame. 
2. Make a clean centre parting and add two tiny braids either side of the head using a little Redken Dry Shampoo Paste to smooth. 
3. Gather hair into a ponytail at the base of the neck, covering the ponytail with an invisible net and make a fold of the hair underneath. 
4. Bring the ends of the ponytail around the base of the fold and wrap. Then, with two side braids, wrap cleanly around the base finishing as you go with Redken Forceful 23 hairspray. 
5. If the hair is not long enough, make up some tiny braids with extensions to wrap the base.

Click Here: Liverpool FC T Shirts