While many of us have had a life-long love affair with braids – teeny, tiny ones typically occurring when we are simply messing around with our hair – the designers for this season weren’t playing when they sent models to the ramp wearing them, making micro braids big news for Spring/Summer’15.
An off-shoot from the general braid phenomenon we described here, little plaits were spied on catwalks for top labels like Valentino, Giamba and Vera Wang (and not to everyone’s pleasure, as noted here), though blink and you might have missed them, with stylists creating the tiniest braids ever – sometimes hidden underneath the top lengths for peek-a-boo plait perfection;
As well as creating the floral crowns we detailed here, hairstylist Guido Palau used hair as an “accessory” at Valentino’s Spring/Summer’15 showcase, reinventing the classic ‘half up, half down’ look to make a new “classic, feminine, romantic” style made with two micro-braids connected in the back of the head…
…At Giamba, each model wore ultra-thin braids in their hair, which were used as a centre-parting with a twist…
…While at Vera Wang, models sported chill waves with braids barley seen and peaking through the underside of tresses.
And, while the mini-braid has been seen on the runways, it’s also made its way to the heads of certain celebrities, too;
Zoe Saldana’s braided look scored her style points on the red carpet last Summer…
…Our new style love, FKA Twigs made her stance on micro braids clear at the 2015 Brit Awards in February….
…And Zoe Kravitz has been championing a whole head of tiny braids for a while now – spied here at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival looking flawless with them.
Get the Look (Valentino’s Romantic Mini Braids)
Want to take the trend on this season too? We suggest going for the romantic look spied at Valentino, where Redken’s global creative director, Guido Paula created a soft style adorned with the dainty braids.
To nail it, simply follow these steps:
1. First, detangle straight hair and apply a heat protecting spray to the lengths.
2. Next, using a curling iron, curl a few random pieces of hair, from the mid-lengths. Once set, comb through the curls with fingers for an ‘undone’ type of texture.
3. Take two tiny pieces of hair (about a finger’s width in thickness) from each side of the head, apply a pea-size amount of defining lotion and then braid each piece, around mid way down their length. We at SPICE love Redken’s Braid Defining Lotion, $25 here.
4. Next, pull the two small, half-finished braids back towards the middle of the head and then braid them together to create one tiny braid down the back of the hair. Braid this to the end, tightly at the bottom so that you do not require a band to secure it.
5. Finish the look by misting a light holding spray over the hair for added grip and texture.
And there you have it – a micro braid look straight from the runway! Do show us your attempts at the trend online, tagging us in your pics on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @SPICETVAFRICA.
Image source: Stealherstyle.com, Thefashionspot.com, Whatweadore.com, Style.com
