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Bringing back banana clips Alexander Wang-style
Hair clips often used in the '80s and '90s made a comeback at New York Fashion Week thanks to Alexander Wang.
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A majority of the models wearing Alexander Wang designs sported hair clips as custom accessories in chrome silver, engraved with Wang’s logo along the side. (Shutterstock/ Yoyochow23)
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lexander Wang, an American fashion designer known for defining what’s cool in the scene, has reintroduced a hair accessory that has been worn by many over the past three decades: the banana clip.
The spring-loaded, dual-sided hair piece is also known as a claw clip, although hairstylist Guido Palau prefers the fruit-centric moniker. Though they never really went away, public appearances of these clips had long dwindled down.
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Runway Models Wear Claw Clips at Alexander Wang's Fall 2018 Fashion Show https://t.co/WXZUf80hCf pic.twitter.com/DG1aJp9bjk
— js30limited (@js30limited5) February 11, 2018
For his Fall 2018 runway show on Saturday, Wang wanted to show his take on the 1980s, when the idea of power women started to seep into popular culture. Palau mentioned that the clips are a bit tongue-in-cheek and self-aware. "Alex was looking at the sort of irony of these clips that at that point [in the '80s], they were kind of new, and then they had a bad connotation; we're sort of seeing them again through different eyes,” said Palau in an interview with fashionista.com.
The clips were worn by a majority of the models for the show in chrome silver and engraved with Wang’s logo along the side.
According to elle.com, Guido used gel and paste as well as a Dyson blow-dryer to create a super smooth, pulled back style. Comb marks were created intentionally for a “masculine, sort of powerful look”.
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With a hairstyle so bold, make-up and nails were toned down. Make-up artist Diane Kendal opted for a minimalist look, making use of strong contour and a powder highlighter as the finishing touch, while manicurist Rita Remark applied shades of nude polish.
Speaking to elle.com, Palau expressed his personal thoughts on the clip, "I love the way that something that's been around and has a funny connotation can come back. Look at the mullet haircut: three or four years ago it was a no-no, and now it's super cool. I love the way that something is reintroduced into fashion and we look at it again in a different way. That's been happening for a while now, things that were considered not cool or a bit of can be rejigged again.
"Also, you've got to remember, lots of girls probably don't remember what the banana clip is. There's an 18 or 17-year-old girl, they don't know it has a funny connotation to it. They may just think it's super cool to do that in their hair." (wen/kes)
