The Lou Dallas girl is Pippy Longstocking all grown up complete with an Art History degree from Sarah Lawrence and an apartment on the Lower East Side. She isn’t afraid of mixing bold patterns and textures, a style parlayed in everything from the styling to the hair in the Fall Winter 2024 shows. When designer Raffaella Hanley was deciding which hairstylist to lead the show, there was only one candidate to reflect the ostentatious style of the clothes, Tina Outen. Hairstylist Tina Outen has had pink hair for 15 years, and her bright, colorful personal style manifests itself in every design she creates. Her work on Lou Dallas’ Fall Winter 2024 show was no exception–featuring textures and colors that complemented the clothes and the model’s natural beauty.
I meet Outen backstage, and she explains, “We have a mixture of looks, and we're really celebrating the individuality of the Lou Dallas world.” As she weaves ribbons through the model’s hair, Outen adds, “We're working with fantastic casting, everybody's got a really good look, and we're accentuating their textures.”
Sarah Lou Kiernan
Outen created six different key hairstyles that add as much dimension to their hair as the clothes in the collection. “We have some very quiet moments with the natural hair, where the energy is then escalated,” says Outen. The escalated looks in question are a show-stopping bouquet of ribbons woven through the braids, a signature of the subculture-obsessed Tina Outen style. “We're going to be wrapping all different ribbons and threads, everything that's come from the Lou Dallas studio.” The hairstyles feature ribbons of chiffon, lace, and plaid scraps of fabric sourced from producing the collection, as well as custom handmade bows by designer Raffaella Hanley herself.
Sarah Lou Kiernan
Sarah Lou Kiernan
“And then we have a Haysi Fantaysee inspired braid look,” says Outen. She even teases a new project on the horizon inspired by her decades of experience coloring and styling hair internationally. ”I'm going to be adding in some hair that I've colored using a hair color project that I've been working on, in very vibrant, fiery tones of cherry and Titian gold and orange.” With her immense expertise and head full of the most glamorous hot pink hair I’ve ever seen, I would use any coloring product she endorses.
Sarah Lou Kiernan
The secret weapon behind this season’s most colorful hairstyles? Bumble and Bumble’s Don’t Blow It. “I’m just allowing the product to dry naturally into the hair to increase the pieceiness and the separation.” Outen swears the product is a game changer for perfecting texture under as tight a timeline as NYFW. “[the product]is really, really helping me with the fact that we don't have a lot of time because I can put that in on damp hair, create the texture, let the girls go to makeup, and then we're just finishing off with a diffuser.”
Sarah Lou Kiernan
Sarah Lou Kiernan
What feeling does she hope this look evokes for the audience? ”I hope it inspires them to go bold with color, find every ribbon in their house and tie it into their hair.”
Sarah Lou Kiernan
If you’re also overstimulated by the bow obsession of this past year, maybe ribbons are the loose, effortlessly chic sister of bows.