Chromat Has a Few Ideas to Transform Your Workout Hair

Let’s be honest, sometimes a sporty outfit can be the greatest workout motivator. With the Olympics coming up, Chromat seized on that idea with their FW20 show, presented amidst equipment in the Financial District’s Rise by We gym. Beauty inspiration—both practical and entirely original—abounded as well. “We wanted to create something sporty and realistic with the hair, since the models are doing a live workout,” hairstylist Justine Marjan said, prepping hair with TRESemmé’s texturizing hairspray, “to add a lived-in texture.” Some muses received piecey, imperfect rope braids with custom Chromat ribbons strung through them, while various ponytails celebrated different textures. “Some girls are rocking their locs, others are rocking their natural curls, and we’re doing a lot of baby hair designs as well,” Marjan said.

Faces were adorned with energetic MAC eyeshadow hues—some orange and yellow, some blue and yellow, others gold—and upward-facing liner. Makeup artist Fatima Thomas said she was inspired by war paint: “In ancient times people would smudge paint on their faces and then go compete.”

The bright, go-team beauty looks didn’t stop at the chin, either. The founders of Lady Fancy Nails, in collaboration with CND nailpolish, wanted to replicate some of the same patterns in the prints from the clothing. “We’re doing a lot of layering of the colors with ombré and line work,” founder Eda Levenson explained.The iconic track star Florence Griffith Joyner, aka Flo-Jo, played a huge part in the team’s vision as well. “With nails in general, I’m constantly trying to honor the originators of nail art,” Levenson said. “The history of it trails back decades when, a lot of the time, people think that nail art is a new thing. Women of color are really at the center of its history and any way that we can honor that, we’ll always try to do our part to keep the legacy and its history alive.”