CHANEL used a vacuum cleaner to create this hairstyle at fashion week

Vacuum Cleaner Was Used To Create The Hair At Chanel Fashion Show

Bizarre yet strangely effective!

Beauty Crew Beauty Writer / August 28 2020

In what is perhaps the weirdest fashion week beauty news we’ve ever reported on (aside from the time models walked down the runway with shampoo still in their hair) – an actual vacuum cleaner has been used to style the hair at CHANEL’s Spring 2018 fashion show in Paris.

Yes, you read that right.

Hairstylist Sam McKnight, the man in charge of styling the models’ tresses, used a vacuum cleaner to secure hair into small Perspex-covered ponytails.

Still a little confused? Let us explain.

The entire CHANEL show, designed by none other than Karl Lagerfeld, was centred around water with the Grand Palais fitted with cascading waterfalls and the models wearing thigh-high clear boots and hats. “I took inspiration from Karl’s wonderful way with transparency,” McKnight told Allure. “When I saw the sketches of the waterfalls set I just felt that the hair should feel like it had been misted by the falling spray, not drenched.”

To create the ponytails themselves, McKnight pulled the hair back into a low ponytail and used his Hair by Sam McKnight Modern Hairspray to dampen strands around the face. In order to take Lagerfeld’s transparent theme further, the ponytails were then pulled through a small cylinder of Perspex and slid up towards the nape of the neck with the help of a vacuum cleaner. “To get the ponytails inside the tube perfectly, with no snagging, we sucked them in with a cleaner,” McKnight explained.

To see exactly how the process worked, watch the video below:

While it’s certainly not your average hairstyling technique –or one we advise doing at home, we’re loving McKnight innovation when it comes to creating a speedy backstage hairstyle that leaves a lasting impression.

Looking for a runway hairstyle you can actually wear on the daily? Then check out the four fashion show styles you should add to your repertoire.

What do you think of the hair from the CHANEL Spring 2018 show? Let us know in the comments below.

Image credit: Getty

Video credit: @sammcknight1

Kate started working for BEAUTYcrew in early 2016, first as a contributor, and was then named Beauty Writer in 2017. She loves picking the brains of the industry's top experts to get to the bottom of beauty's toughest questions. Bronze eyeshadow palettes are her weakness and she's forever on the hunt for the perfect nude nail polish to suit her fair skin. Her words can also be found in Men's Health magazine, and she now works in PR.