Models on Rocking Natural Hair at NYFW: It "Feels Like a Victory"

After years of perming, Ijeoma Nwaka decided to go completely natural about a year ago and has been loving her hair ever since. While prepping for the ExMermaid show, hair stylists informed her that all the models would have to wear their hair straightened and slicked back.

"I wondered, 'Where does that leave me? My hair doesn't do that,'" she told us backstage.

Having to straighten her hair for the show was a legitimate concern for Nwaka, because she hadn't applied heat to her hair since going natural, and she didn't know how it would affect the overall texture moving forward.

"But then I went to the designer, [Francki Michels], for a fitting and she was like, 'No, I love your hair. Please don't let them touch it. Can you leave it like that for me?' It meant a lot to me because my hair is everything to me. It's a part of my look, and I don't really want to conform with everyone else. Even though sometimes I might get an eyebrow raised because I look different from everybody else, it's still me."

"For me, leaving my hair natural for the runway is really important," said Kristina Elise backstage at Tanya Taylor. "It means that the designer is embracing me how I am and not trying to make me like everyone else — because my hair is not like everyone else's and it's not going to look the same. I really appreciate it when they make that decision."

We asked her if she'd had to straighten her hair this season, and she said that she's been "really lucky" and has been able to wear curly hair for every show. That hasn't always been the case, though. Last season she had to straighten it once, and in previous seasons it was much more common.

"More than anything, it's just a pain," she said. "It's damaging to my hair. If you're doing it at a show, you're not taking your time and you're going to rush, and it's just going to get damaged."

When we asked Jose Cruz if he came backstage to Sandy Liang with his hair that gorgeous shade of cotton-candy pink, he replied, "Hell yes! It's my signature look!"

While the color may be anything but natural, the texture — and the fact that Amika hairstylists were all about embracing each and every single model's personal look for the show — spoke volumes.

"Hair is one of the first things people see and it's completely you. It's one of the biggest ways to express yourself. So it's awesome that we get to choose to style it our way," he said. "I like to stand out and be pink and pretty like a little princess. I love that I can be myself on the runway here and in my everyday life."

When we asked Zohara Even how often she gets to rock her thick, gorgeous afro down the runway, she said she almost always gets to. Interestingly, though, she noted that sometimes hairstylists don't really know what to do with her hair, so they won't touch it much at all. That wasn't the case backstage at Tanya Taylor, where they pulled out the curl to give it more volume and more shape.

Another thing she told us was that while today she fully embraces her natural hair, that wasn't always the case. "For a long time, I always wanted to straighten my hair, and then I did it for two years. It really ruined my hair," she said. "Then I cut my hair — eventually I shaved it all off — and grew it naturally. It made me feel more like I was myself. And people comment more on my hair now than they did when it was straight, which makes me feel really good."

It was hard to miss Ariela Soares backstage at Bibhu Mohapatra with her gorgeous head of hair. We were curious about how she felt about going natural for the show. "I love it," she said. "I worked for a long time having to straighten my hair for every show, so for me to get to have my natural hair feels like a victory."

She said that her hair is usually a little bit "more messy" than what you see pictured here, but that stylists took time to open up and define the curl to enhance the fall. She said that the fact that stylists opted to do this — instead of spending that time flattening her natural curl — made for a more enjoyable backstage experience.

Blesnya Minher told us that she often works with designers who don't straighten her hair, but that a few will dramatically compress it with water before a show or shoot to make it less voluminous. In her everyday life, she almost always rocks her hair natural and definitely prefers it this way versus straightening or slicking it down.

Backstage at Derek Lam, she was rocking full volume. Not only did she look stunning, but she felt more in tune with herself, too.

"I love that I can be myself," she said. "It's not that I don't like other hairstyles, but it's just that wearing my hair natural makes me feel more like who I really am."

Kelly Gervais's signature look involves her afro, which she got to rock all through Fashion Week. Designers specifically requested that she keep her natural texture, and she's been loving it.

"It means everything to me to be able to wear my natural hair on the runway. I feel the most confident and the most powerful when I'm in my natural assets, and sporting my afro definitely does that for me," said Gervais backstage at Alice + Oliva. "Also, I feel like I can be an example for youth because I have a lot of young girls looking up to me that have similar textured hair. I want them to know they are beautiful just the way they are. Rock your curl."