According to the Spring 2024 Runways, There's No Wrong Way to Wear a Hair Ribbon

Stephanie Saltzman

10 September 2023 at 8:00 am·5-min read

Hair accessories are almost always among the most ubiquitous staples of fashion week beauty — both on the runways and in street style — season after season. But at the Spring 2024 shows in New York, one specific type of hair accessory is quickly emerging as a trend front-runner.

If the looks we've seen so far are any indication, designers and their backstage fellow creatives are loudly declaring one thing: There's no wrong way to wear a hair ribbon. On the spring runways, we've seen them worn as minimalist headbands, tied around the neck as hybrid hair accessory/necklaces and stretched across the head for a dramatic corset effect. Inventive, nontraditional ways of incorporating ribbons are officially having a moment, and it seems to be that just about anything goes — save for tying them into a plain old bow, anyway.

Backstage at Christian Siriano Spring 2024.<p>Photo: Dave Kotinsky/ Getty Images/Courtesy of TReSemmé</p> — Backstage at Christian Siriano Spring 2024.
Photo: Dave Kotinsky/ Getty Images/Courtesy of TReSemmé

For Christian Siriano's ballet-core 15th anniversary show on Friday, hairstylist Lacy Redway (for TreSemmé) created two distinct yet equally innovative ribbon-adorned styles. In the first, she pulled the hair into two inverted French braids, the tails of which she then twisted into dancer-esque low buns. Then, she stretched baby pink ribbons across the backs of models' heads in a criss-cross pattern, lacing them back and forth between the two braids, for an effect that mimicked the corsetry in the designer's collection.

<em>Backstage at Christian Siriano Spring 2024.</em><p>Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight</p> — *Backstage at Christian Siriano Spring 2024.*
Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

For the Siriano models who didn't wear hair corsets, Redway created a straight, smooth look — and then invented a new concept entirely: ribbon hair extensions. Using the same baby pink adornments as in the other hairstyle, she attached ribbons vertically at the scalp beneath the hair, letting them hang down loosely to peek out throughout and extend beneath the ends.

"My inspiration started from the clothes," said Redway of the looks. "The moment I saw the softness of the color tones, the richness of the fabrication and the beautiful layering of the tulle details of the gowns in Christian's studio, I knew to best support the looks I had to keep the hair feeling soft, with clean-girl aesthetic but put-together, like you would expect to see a ballerina fairy who twirls down the runway."

At Collina Strada, hairstylist Evanie Frausto (for Bumble and Bumble) created a series of woven looks, creating tapestry-like, basket-weave braids with hair and incorporating ribbons of the brand's fabrics (which had been razored and left with raw edges for an extra grungy effect) to coordinate with the collection.

"Today is an evolution of the looks we've created together from previous seasons, continuing with a grungy yet organic style, with a touch of refinement to give us a controlled chaos look – speaking to the theme 'Soft is Hard,'" said Frausto of the Spring 2024 hair, via a press release.

Backstage at Collina Strada Spring 2024.<p>Photo: Courtesy of Bumble and Bumble</p> — Backstage at Collina Strada Spring 2024.
Photo: Courtesy of Bumble and Bumble

For Peter Do's debut at Helmut Lang, hairstylist Jawara (for Dyson) also incorporated ribbons of fabric into the look. Demonstrating a far more refined and minimalistic approach to ribbon-laden hair, he created a "clean '90s knot" by twisting a ponytail around itself, leaving about two inches of hair sticking out at the ends, and securing it with a pin. Then, he placed thin black ribbon headbands about two inches back from models' hairlines, holding them in place with double-sided tape.

Then, there was easily the most romantic take on runway hair ribbons at Mirror Palais. In a backstage interview, designer Marcelo Gaia told Fashionista that he was inspired by "Sailor Moon" and the ribbons that wrap around the anime character during her transformation sequence. Ribbons factored throughout the collection, and became a hair accessory/choker necklace when they were tied into bows around models' necks and flowing long hair.

See all the creative ways designers have incorporated hair ribbons into their Spring 2024 runways below.

A beauty look from Christian Siriano Spring 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

A beauty look from Christian Siriano Spring 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

A beauty look from Christian Siriano Spring 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

A beauty look from Christian Siriano Spring 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight