The 5 Biggest Nail Trends We Saw at New York Fashion Week

Inspired Ombré

Often, ombré nails go from the tip of the nail toward the base. But for two shows this season — Jason Wu and Retrofête — the ombré looks were a bit more inspired.

For Jason Wu, editorial manicurist Jin Soon Choi decided on a reverse ombré. "I told [Wu] that we've done [ombré] from the tip," says Choi, founder of the JINsoon Spas and JINsoon Nail Lacquer. "We haven't seen [reverse ombré] at shows much, so we decided to do it a little bit differently." The design went from the base of the nail with a deep black cherry into nothing but a clear polish at the top, with the polishes blended into each other using a small sponge. Choi adds that this look elongates the nail. Ombré "can be boyish if you do from the tip," she says. "But this one is a more elongated look, so very soft and feminine."

At Retrofête, celebrity manicurist Miss Pop opted for a side-to-side ombré using a quad of polishes from essie. "When you go tip to base, it's beautiful, but it's more claw-like," says Miss Pop. "We wanted to do an ombré in an interesting new way. This feels chicer, more refined." To get the look, Miss Pop used four shades of red and applied them side by side while wet, blending with nothing but the bottle's brushes.

Big Decals

Over-the-top decals stole the show at fashion week.

At Sergio Hudson, celebrity nail stylist Gina Edwards created a nail look with KISS that featured big, chunky jewel-toned gems and burnished gold appliqués. "This is a glamorous, embellished nail look," says Edwards. "We have '70s throwback glam — think about Diane Carroll, Diana Ross. Those were the two women that Sergio was inspired by for this collection." The design features inlaid stones surrounded by gold, reminiscent of a cabochon ring. "In the collection, Sergio has denim, velvet, yellow, reds, blues, and I wanted to incorporate all of that into one nail," says Edwards.

At Luar, nail artist Naomi Yasuda made exaggerated super-long accent nails adorned with resin decals created in a mold and topped with OPI Nail Lacquer in Glitzerland ($12). "Luar is a brand that marries high fashion with urban culture," says Yasuda in a press release. "So I decided to make nails that were both striking and lavish, leading me to create a baroque-inspired design for the statement nail."

Cherry Reds

Cherry Red appeared at Retrofête, Prabal Gurung (by KISS), Christian Cowan (by CND), and Bronx and Banco (by Chillhouse.) Among the most unique interpretations was Jason Wu, which served up an ombré twist. "We tried three different colors," says Choi. "One red looked very bloody, and black could look very gothic, so we wanted to have an in-between of the dark plus sophistication, so we decided to use JINsoon Risque ($18)."

At Prabal, Edwards created a velvet, aka cat eye cherry nail. Cat eye "gives you that magnetic effect," says Edwards. "The inspiration is all about fragmented memories. Prabal wanted a nail that was going to be reflective, emanating the past with the present. With a cat eye, that's what you get. In one light, it's one way, and in another light, it's another way."

Fun Frenchies

The French manicure is going absolutely nowhere, as evidenced by the nail looks at Sergio Hudson (KISS), Christian Cowan (CND), PatBO (KISS), and Tiffany Brown (Dazzle Dry). But none of these looks were your standard Frenchie — think: expressive colors, shapes, and designs.

"For 2024, we're going to be still seeing French nails," says Edwards. "I can't tell you how many people today that I ran into that are wearing French, and it's a brown tip, rhinestone tip — anything. It's just a different twist, which is bringing the '90s to the present."

For Sergio Hudson, Edwards offset the high glam of the multi-colored gem nails with a champagne double French press-on, using KISS Voguish Fantasy Sculpted French Nails in Party Crasher ($10). For PatBO, she used the KISS imPRESS nails in For the Night ($10), but opted for just the French tip nails from the set.

Reflective Metals

What started with the viral glazed donut nail has matured into the love of a high-impact, reflective metallic manicure. Chillhouse's Chill at the Disco ($16) press-ons were used at both Lapointe and Bronx and Banco. They're a silver cat-eye nail with a white swirled line design.

At Prabal, Edwards created the magnetic look in both cherry red and silver. "Magnetic nails have been around, but it's just catapulting to different levels with different designs in the cat eye," says Edwards. "We see the French cat eye, which who would think you could do that? But there are so many different takes on magnetic nails, and they're really cohesive with a lot of outfits that you wear because it pulls the light and gives you different colors."