Styling for New York Fashion Week is no easy accomplishment, it requires creativity and the ability to work well under pressure. This is exactly what we at The Tease witnessed when we showed up backstage at the Laurence Basse Fall 2024 runway show, held at the Paramount Building in Midtown Manhattan. Lead hairstylist Tianna Dilligard had already finished styling her hair looks for the show, and was now assisting the makeup team with finalizing their looks. Given how well Dilligard was contouring, it almost made us wonder if we had mixed up interviewees, however we soon learned she was merely a jack of all beauty trades.
Laurence Basse’s Fall 2024 show, titled “Burn the City”, was the ultimate combination of intensity and beauty. Many of the looks featured leather, Basse’s speciality, and the Project Designer alum forged many unforgettable silhouettes for her first NYFW show. The Tease spoke to Dilligard about her experience styling for this show and she walked us through how she used Nicky Clarke products to enhance Laurence Basse’s edgy and leather-centered styles. Keep reading for all the details!
The Tease: Can you tell me the inspiration for the looks today?
Tianna Dilligard: So the inspiration for the looks is leather, because that’s what Laurence is all about. Her whole design is leather, colorful…everything like that. The female models featured a few different looks. One of the signature looks was a sleek updo with a side-part, featuring a high bun attached at the top and a loose ponytail at the bottom. And then for the guys, we did wet curls so it gives that biker-type of look. For the second look, we’re doing curly, all over the place, crazy, to match the leather.
Can you walk me through the products you used to achieve these looks?
Dilligard: For the male models’ wet look, PureO Naturals products were applied.
The natural textured curly look was achieved using the Nicky Clarke AirStyle PRO with the diffuser and the ORS Curl Milk. Additionally, several wavy looks were achieved using Nicky Clarke AirCurl attachments.
For some of the models with natural texture hair, a combination of ORS styling cream and PureO Naturals leave-in conditioner were used, with curls diffused using the Nicky Clarke AirStyle PRO.
What sort of process goes into figuring out the hair looks?
Dilligard: I’ve worked with Laurence Bassie previously. We did an opening for the show as far as a photo shoot. We did the side part to do the edgy type of look with a bun with editorial spikes going out of it.
I heard there were about 40 models at this show, can you talk about any of the challenges that come with shows of this volume?
Dilligard: A few of the models, it was a challenge because they didn’t want to change their hair, but we’ve gotta do it. We had a few models that already had their hair styled and things like that, so we just had to take it out.
Lastly, do you mind just telling me your favorite part about styling for Fashion Week?
Dilligard: With Fashion Week, it’s not like we can wear these hairstyles on a regular day- to-day. So, what I love about it is the fact that we can be free and expressive with all these looks.
