The Perfect Bun At Christian Siriano S/S '23 Requires An Unexpected Hair Trick

Few brands are able to capture the glamour, elegance, and sheer beauty of women, but that’s a light days work for Christian Siriano. The young designer churns out fantastical collections season after season — and to top it off, the hair and makeup for each show never fails to complement the fashion perfectly. This year Siriano assembled a team of top models and the industries’ most talented professionals into Elizabeth Taylor’s old town house for his Spring/Summer 2023 collection. At the bustling backstage, models roamed about in bold red lips and an impossibly chic chignon bun, dreamt up by hairstylist Lacy Redway. The makeup was courtesy of Charlotte Tilbury led by the brand’s key makeup artist Sofia Tilbury.

The S/S ‘23 collection was inspired by classic Old Hollywood glamour and the icons of that era. With this in mind, Redway went with a sleek chignon she dubbed the ‘Hollywood Twist’. “I was inspired by the elegance of Christian’s show being held at Elizabeth Taylor’s townhouse to create an elevated modern take on a deep side parted low bun to complement the powerful women that wear his designs,” Redway explains to press. “The style is a modern take on the iconic Audrey Hepburn bun —confident and sleek, with a little edge.”

To create the look Redway fashioned the side part using the TRESemmé TRES TWO Extra Hold Hair Gel to smooth the part in place after swooping the hair across the forehead and tucking behind the ear. Next Redway applied the TRESemmé One Step Smooth Cream from the roots to the ends of the hair to offer 24-hour frizz protection, soften the hair, and provide heat protection before blow drying wit the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer. After the ponytail was secured Redway smoothed it out using the Dyson Corrale straightener at 330 degrees.

Redway actually used a genius yet conventional trick to achieve the perfectly rounded chignon bun. Using a thin transparent hairnet around the ponytail, the artist skillfully wrapped the hair around itself to create the classic shape. “This is great for anybody that likes to do a really polished bun because you can’t really see it and it just keeps all the hair in place so you use less product,” Redway explains to TZR. Another trick up her sleeve, Redway used a dense makeup brush, sprayed with the TRESemmé Total Volume Hairspray, and brushed it lightly on the hair. This helps lock any flyaways in place created the sleekest slicked back bun possible.

On the makeup front, Tilbury crafted her rendition of the timeless red lip and thin winged liner. “[Christian’s] inspiration for Spring/Summer 2023 was Elizabeth Taylor and Old Hollywood, so we instantly knew we wanted to create a classic 1950s bombshell look to complement the beautiful pieces and timeless elegance of The Elizabeth Collective,” Schwarzkopf-Tilbury says via a press release. To create the look, the artist used an arsenal of Charlotte Tilbury products including the newest launch from the brand, the Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer.

Believe it or not this look actually requires no foundation, just the Hollywood Flawless Filter to even out the skin tone and provide a natural glow. She used the Hollywood Contour Wand to enhance the models’ bone structure, gliding high across the cheekbones and blending upwards to lift the face, then finished with the Beauty Light Wand over the high points to create a dewy, candlelit highlight.

“On the eyes, we went for a super sharp, sophisticated feline flick reminiscent of silver screen sirens to define and elongate the eye,” Tilbury explains. “Then finished with plenty of Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes Mascara and a light contour through the crease and outer corners using the Super Nudes Easy Eye Palette.”

The bright red lip was the focal point of this look and to achieve it the artist used a combination of Tell Laura Lipstick and Kiss n Tell Lip Cheat for a vibrant pop of confident color, which was further perfected with a slightly overdrawn Cupid’s bow and a touch of Collagen Lip Bath Gloss at the fullest points of the lips.

Being that Siriano was the first show of New York Fashion Week, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Old Hollywood theme continue on the runways. And with such a timeless aesthetic and endless inspiration to pull from, the looks are bound to be down right gorgeous.