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“But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore suffers so much more.” Hans Christian Andersen’s infamous quote from The Little Mermaid led Sandy Liang’s spring 2024 show notes. In a designer’s eyes, what would a mermaid do or wear or look like in her journey to ground? In Liang’s world, the uniform is playful and delicate, yet effortless and resourceful. She’s adorned with pearls and tucks a flower behind her hair. Why not accessorize with the resources around you?
As models traipsed the runway on a serendipitously rainy New York day, their faces glistened. Skin was fresh, achieved through Estée Lauder’s Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Foundation mixed with a bit of essence for a barely there look; “rhinestone barnacles,” or tiny diamanté crystals, decorated the eyes—just sparkling when the light hit them. Hair, too, maintained a just-dipped healthy glow—maybe gently raked with some sort of underwater comb—finished with Bread’s weightless oil. Even nails had a pearlescent touch with a coat of KIKI World Pretty Nail Graffiti.
Anna Sui took a more fluid approach. Inspired by the movement of water and finding synergy with the flowing fabrics of the collection, hairstylist Garren imagined undulating waves by applying R+Co Bleu’s Rose Water Wave Spray; then he used a small iron for long tresses and ’20s-esque finger waves, held in place with pins until show time. One model dressed her mane up with a scarf, another a seashell, the last a flower crown—all the styles kept shiny, again, with a touch of hair oil.
Backstage at Jason Wu, 111Skin’s lead aesthetician, Sylwia Gorzkowska, drenched models’ skin with the brand’s Celestial Black Diamond Emulsion before they headed over to makeup. Skin maintained its luminosity with a simple regimen: brow gel and gloss on the eyes and cheeks. Hair, of course, continued the shine agenda. “It should look effortless, easy, like it’s an afterthought; that it took two seconds,” says hairstylist Jimmy Paul who set the looks in place with TRESemmé gel. “She’s shipwrecked, God bless her!” And on Roosevelt Island, showgoers could relate.
As mermaidcore continues to ebb and flow through the collective beauty consciousness, it evolves beyond fins and pure fantasy. Fashion Week’s mermaids live in the real world, and if they’re Sandy Liang girls, they might even be minimalists.
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