The Braided Hairstyles You'll Want to Try from Fashion Week

By Desiree Johnson · Published September 21, 2022

The Marrisa Wilson Spring/Summer 2023 Collection was heavily inspired and designed as an ode to her Guyanese-American heritage. “It is that feeling of the past and the present coming together to inform the future that I wanted to evoke,” she said of the collection. If you got to check out her amazing New York Fashion Show, you were treated to an array of expressive prints, watercolor strokes and brightly colored feathers complemented by a hair look that brings the theme “Of Many Waters” to life.

Kien Hoang is the mastermind behind the innovative hairstyles that brought Marrisa’s vision to life. As the Oribe Principal Artist of Content and Styling he created a variation of braided styles, all adorned with clear beads in a range of sizes to mimic rain drops. This was the second season working with the Oribe team and Marrisa wanted to be intentional in casting models with natural hair who could be supported by a team of expert stylists. Marrisa was enthused to continue growing the relationship with the Oribe team and partnering with them to “translate multicultural and protective styles in a direction that is inspirational and is really exciting.”

Get the Look from Oribe:

Prep and detangle hair with Run-Through Detangling Primer.
Apply Curl Gelèe for Shine & Definition throughout hair to add shine and enhance curls.
Braid hair, creating either cornrows, plait braids, beaded braids or individual braids.
Finish braids with Rough Luxury Molding Wax at the ends for hold.
Add clear “rain drop” beads to braided hair.

How did your Guyanese-American heritage influence your approach to creating the hair styles?

I normally illustrate each of the looks from head to toe in order to get a full vision of how the girls will look on the runway. It’s not just the clothes that I end up painting and illustrating but the hair as well to accomplish the overall aesthetic. I always aim to elevate and innovate textured and natural hair with any of my collections. This is why the hair statement is intentional and we implement it in a thoughtful way. Guyana is located on the northern tip of South America and has many streams, creeks, passage ways, and the largest single drop waterfall in the world. I wanted to pay tribute to that with the water droplet look I had illustrated for the hair.

They’re are several different beads to use with natural hair, how did choosing clear beads to replicate rain drops coincide with the theme “Of Many Waters”?

The hair concepts started with these big white chunky beads and I’d shown these trim I’d sourced from the garment district that was on a herring brown strip with clear beads added. The clear beads were going to represent water because Guyana in an Amerindian language means “land of many waters” so we wanted to create an idea that the models had water dripping from their har. When I connected with the Oribe team’s key stylist Kien, he loved the idea of the beads, but the beads that were available online you would use for twist were smallers, colored, wooden, and weren’t clear. Kienwas determined to find the beads and after a few weeks he found the hundreds of these clear bubble beads that he had to cut apart because they were for ponytails. Sourcing them gave us a nostalgic look back into my heritage and also gave me the memory of getting my &utm_source=Google+Shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google-shopping-v2&gclid=CjwKCAjwyaWZBhBGEiwACslQo5AKRJNAOS9u8k_6u0RFGgfNE4OuZcacOYrVtBdeVSTfELwE2WDfFxoC3OwQAvD_BwE” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>hair adorned with these when I was a kid. Taking that nostalgic accessory and then crafting it into an elevated and innovative direction was incredible.

Photo: @bestcommajeb

The hairstyles were very complimentary to the designs of your show, why did you choose braided looks versus other types of natural styles?

I wanted the girls to have a cool girl hanging out on the beach look that was inspired by Rihanna in Guava Island where she had these chunky braids that weren’t slicked down andt were moisturized and slightly frizzy. The original direction was to have the majority of girls in braids, but during casting many of them had their hair in cornrows or braids or natural curls that we didn’t want to manipulate. We really wanted to combine their natural hair with our concept and not have to force a style into their hair. With my own natural hair I’ve stopped using heat and embraced my natural hair so I’m sensitive to being a part of NYFW and seeing these girls get their hair deconstructed.

How did the Oribe team help achieve the styles?

We talked about the types of looks we wanted to create and being intentional with every design and I trusted Kien to execute the vision. I made a point to say I’m cool with frizz because we can often associate super laid and pristine looks with protective styles and I wanted a relaxed approach for these looks. When you’re on the beach you are embracing the sun, staying moisturized, getting the Vitamin D, and enjoying yourself.The day of the show it rained which helped to add that tropical aesthetic to their hair because of the humidity.

Prepping the hair is essential for any braided look, what tips or techniques were most effective when creating these styles?

I wanted to highlight my Caribbean heritage and I connected with many of the models who came from the same background. I wanted to showcase what Carribean textures look like and whether that’s loose waves or kinky curls, I wanted to have a hair moment that fit the collection.