This is not a joke: scrunchies are well on their way to a resurgence. Four years ago, the (pause for effect) New York Times published an article titled “The Scrunchie Grows Up,” which brazenly called the 80s hair accessory “an off-duty-model” signature and cited Cara Delevingne, Alice Dellal, Rita Ora and Selena Gomez as fans of the trend. (Around that time, scrunchies walked the Chanel runway.) Just this May, our friends at Man Repeller officially declared the elasticized fabric rings “back.” Pandora Sykes was spotted in a bright red scrunchie and 2000s-era denim. Frederikke Sofie wore one in the March 2017 issue of Vogue.
We remained on the fence. Our love of all things nostalgia-inducing aside, scrunchies are pretty darn kitschy. Not to mention they practically broke up Carrie Bradshaw and Jack Berger.
Then, on Sunday, Floriana Gavriel and Rachel Mansur, designers of everyone’s favorite minimalist bag, shoe and now ready-to-wear line Mansur Gavriel, co-signed the trend. At the brands’ see-now-buy-now Fall 2017 presentation (and its first-ever runway show), perfect coats (of the wool and bubble variety) and turtleneck knits came paired with outsize (but not overly fluffy) scrunchies made from luxe vintage Italian fabric.
Images: Getty, Imaxtree
Even Bumble and bumble global artistic director Laurent Philippon, who created the show’s hair look, had to admit the scrunchies looked “cool.” (In his world, that’s essentially sacrilege — Hairstory and Bumble and bumble founder Michael Gordon famously banned scrunchies from the office.) “When I heard scrunchie, I was like, ‘Ahhhhhhh!’ It is my nightmare,” Philippon told the Cut backstage. “But actually no, it’s done in a very cool way.”
The beautifully textured hair accessories held together low, loose, middle-parted ponytails. “It’s worn very low and broken so you just keep the hair over the ears and behind the shoulders,” he said of the look. “You tuck part of it behind the ear so it’s a little messy.”
To those who’ve now switched to (or always were) Team Berger: Mansur Gavriel’s nouveau scrunchies (priced at $35 apiece) are now available to shop at the brand’s Wooster Street location. Or: DIY your own vintage scarf scrunchies.
[ via the Cut ]
