The Nail Art Trends at NYFW Fall 2018 That’ll Make You Love Nail Art Again

Nail art has had a rough go the last few years. After we watched it get left behind in the days when minimalism ruled all, it’s finally making its way back, and tbh, we’re really happy about it. Today’s nail art is still sleek and minimal, though, often appearing on bare or nude nails and never featuring more than two colours at once.

During New York Fashion Week Fall 2018, some of the biggest nail artists in the game, like Miss Pop, Julie Kandalec and Rita Remark, talked to us about their nail art inspo this season. Read what they had to say below.

Tanya Taylor

“We did two looks. The inspiration were the female artists Hannah Hoch and Suzanne Duchamp,” explained nail artist Julie Kandalec. “They liked playing with bold colour and an element of surprise so we wanted to do really interesting colour combinations. Half of the girls are getting Essie “Bahama Mama” with “Gelato” on the tip, and the other half are getting “No Place Like Chrome” with “Taj Mahal” on the tip.”

Jeremy Scott

Miss Pop (for Essie) created nail art inspired by the rave-inspired collection, painting on bright animal prints on clear nails.

Cushnie et Ochs

Of the nails at Cushnie et Ochs, Julie Kandalec explained, “The look was inspired by shattered metallics and sculptural architecture.” She used Essie’s “Skinny dip” and “Summit of style” sprinkled across the tip.

Self-Portrait

Fellow Canadian Rita Remark led the nail team at Self-Portrait, explaining she chose “Midnight Cami” by Essie to match the bold blue lip colour on the models. “Any of the models who have blue lips have blue nails,” explained Remark. “And the models who have nude lips have nude nails. It kind of unifies the look.”

Alexander Wang

For Alexander Wang’s final New York Fashion Week collection, which was inspired by strong female CEOs, Remark went with an “icy steel nude” using Essie’s “Wild Nude” and “Au Natural.” “We have this really great effect when we layer two polishes on top of each other,” said Remark. “It gives this cool strobing effect. We thought, ‘What does the modern CEO wear?’ She doesn’t have to be restrained. Alex’s inspirations were women like Rihanna, who are redefining what it means to look and behave like a businesswoman. So we thought about doing a bunch of different, crazy colours, but it was too distracting. So we chose these two colours because they have this cool glow that mirrors the makeup.”