Gabriela Hearst Serves Up a Sustainable—And Undeniably Stylish—Hairstyle at Her Carbon-Neutral Show

Here’s something to consider: Even your hairstyle can have a carbon footprint. With this in mind, Gabriela Hearst, who pledged to make her Spring 2020 show carbon-neutral (an industry first), asked hairstylist James Pecis not to use any electricity for the season’s coifs. Given the wide range of textures before him, doing so was no easy feat, but Pecis, sipping from a LifeStraw reusable water bottle (single-use plastic was banned backstage), simply smiled: “I like a challenge.” His solution? A high-gloss rope braid. No blow dryer, straightener, or curling iron necessary.

“We’re giving the girls a little bit of strength by slicking the hair down,” Pecis said of the shellacked look that was inspired by strong, sensual Latinx beauties like Frida Kahlo and complemented by a “handsome brow,” courtesy of makeup artist Hannah Murray and Bobbi Brown’s tinted shaping formula. After working Oribe’s Gel Sérum through lengths, he pulled hair back into a low ponytail sans part, which he then sectioned into two hands, twisting the pieces against each other before bending it back onto itself. A thin strip of leather tied into a knot, not bow, provided the finishing decorative touch. “It has a really casual feel to it,” Pecis added.

Casual, maybe (and easy enough to recreate at home), but nevertheless commanding. As models like Giedre Dukauskaite and Lineisy Montero took their final walk around the Gabriela Hearst runway, their lacquered loops dangling above ethically made macramé trench coats and herringbone-stitched suits, the notoriously steely front-row crowd erupted into a thunderous cheer, proving once and for all that sustainability and style go hand in hand. Consider the bar officially raised.

Originally Appeared on Vogue