Dust off your striping brushes to recreate AW runway nails

​ Dust off your striping brushes folks, nail trends for Autumn/Winter 2019 are going to be all about lines, edges and a twist on the good old French Manicure.

Back at the start of the year, during fashion season, I worked on a lot of shows in both London and Paris with designers showcasing their collections for the Autumn/Winter season. There was everything from the bold to the more wearable, I saw everything. There really were some amazing collections and it was great to see nails being a bit more of a feature.  

Some of the classic brands, such as Hermes, opted for a classic, clean, nude nail. As I have said before, in previous articles, these are often more difficult to achieve. You have nowhere to hide anything, so you need to make sure you really clean underneath the nail plate and that your cuticle work is very precise...which there often isn't time for when you are backstage at a fashion show.

Some nude nails were a little more milky and had a twist, with the addition of a line. For the Wesley Harriott Show, I was asked to create coffin shaped nails; the shape was key to the collection which was inspired by 16th century Empresses and what they would wear today. The nails were a milky nude base with a line around three edges. Some nails had a white line, some had a black line, and some had a grey line.

It was a very similar story for Renata Brenha's debut show at London Fashion Week, but to tie in with the inspiration of the collection we worked on the natural nail and created a less perfect line all the way around the nail. The show was very much about working indigenous women and their hard-working hands, so they needed to be less perfect.

For Edward Crutchley's Autumn Winter Collection, it was all about a block colour, again with the emphasis on the nail shape and length, which was long and sharp. We had black matte nails with a token set of chrome nails here and there.

All of the girls had long, pointed, extreme nails and the boys had their natural nails painted black matte, with a couple of the models having a set of chrome nails.

I was also fortunate enough to assist on many shows and there were block coloured nails, in deep autumnal shade, as well as reverse French nails in nude and bronze shades, very much reflecting the season.  This is, after all, the season where we will see lots of deep, rich colours, very much statement nails. All of these designs are very easy to recreate within the salon, and to even adapt, to ensure your client is on trend.

If you love to create nail art, or just something more than a standard colour, spend some time experimenting. Take the colours from the collection of your chosen brand, take a look at the patterns and fabrics you see in the shops, look at the catwalk shows from around the world and take inspiration from all of it. 

Practice creating nail ideas on nail pops in between clients, or during your quieter times, and use them to inspire clients and drive bookings via your social media.  You can also use them within the salon to show clients what can be created on their nails.  

A word to the wise, only have nail designs on display that you feel confident creating and designs that don't take too long to create, so as they can be done in a commercially acceptable time, and, of course, don't forget to charge for it! 

Nail art takes more time, it is more skill and it is more product.  Charge your worth and don't be ashamed to do so. If clients don't like it they need not come back, there are plenty of others who will appreciate and value you, and you are much better off doing less treatments for a good price than doing a lot for a little price.