Hair Trends to Try From London Fashion Week, From Spiky Y2K Buns to Gentle Waves 

After a pandemic-sized hiatus, London Fashion Week was back in the flesh for spring/summer 2022, with high-voltage shows and jaw-dropping presentations. Naturally, seeing the clothes and make-up IRL felt revelatory, but there was something about witnessing the hair that felt particularly special. And that’s because of the intricate textures: Where visually high-impact blunt bobs and sharp fringes ruled the runways of recent seasons past, spring/summer 2022 was much more tactile, with various iterations of the wet look dominating throughout, at Richard Quinn, Simone Rocha and more. Elsewhere there were hyper-natural waves at Supriya Lele, spiky ’90s meets Y2K buns at Nensi Dojaka, and statement hairpieces at Harris Reed .

Below, Vogue rounds up the best hair trends to try from London Fashion Week spring/summer 22.

The wet look

Looking for a quick, modern update without having to commit to a cut or color? Consider the wet look, the dominant hair trend of London Fashion Week. Even within that, there are plenty of ways to experiment. At Simone Rocha, hairstylist Cyndia Harvey doused models’ hair with high-shine gloss to evoke the idea of wetting a baby’s head at their baptism, the result of which was both haunting and dreamlike. Meanwhile, at Richard Quinn, Sam McKnight created his “alien angels” by parting models hair into three sections and slicking them back in different directions. Elsewhere, at Rejina Pyo the wet look was rendered both sporty and sexy, with hairstylist Ali Pirzadeh parting models’ hair sleekly down the middle, finishing it off with two rope twist pigtails at the back. See also, Matty Bovan and Fashion East’s Maximilian.

The Y2K bun

Following on from her 2021 LVMH Prize win, Nensi Dojaka shut down London Fashion Week this season with a love letter to the ’90s. To complement her stringy LBDs, hairstylist Syd Hayes scraped models’ hair back into spiky, twisted buns in an ultimate nod to ’90s meets Y2K nostalgia. All very Bella Hadid.

Gentle waves

Long bouncy waves were another standout trend this season. See Supriya Lele, where Cyndia Harvey styled models’ hair into gentle waves, parted down the middle for that carefree cool-girl attitude, and again at Victoria Beckham, where Harvey opted for soft, effortless waves that she tucked into this season’s blazers for a more structured look. Elsewhere, long tousled locks appeared at Molly Goddard courtesy of Luke Hersheson, where they felt young and fresh, and at Roksanda, where Larry King’s beautiful waved hair mirrored the models’ movements as they danced.

Statement hair accessories

Bold hairpieces also made an appearance at London Fashion Week. At Simone Rocha, crystal tiaras and embellished hair clips peeked through Harvey’s high-gloss hair, while at Richard Quinn, amongst McKnight’s wet-look alien angels, there were models whose hair was completely hidden beneath sinister frilled bonnets. Likewise, at Chet Lo, hair was hidden under candy-colored swimming caps in Lo’s signature squidgy, spiked material.

Then there was Harris Reed, who rounded off London Fashion Week with one of his trademarks: spherical headpieces of gargantuan proportions.