od, my thumb looks boring,” I thought as I scrolled Instagram late one recent winter evening, disappearing down a nail-art rabbit hole. For years I’d been loyal to the same polish, a hue so neutral it blends into my skin like foundation, and yet, driven back inside (and back insane) by omicron, I suddenly found myself lusting over photos of costume designer Miyako Bellizzi’s ombré talons. They were ultra-long and coffin-shaped—not to be confused with the “almond” tips, or “tapered squares” I discovered as I scanned captions elsewhere. I may as well have been on Duolingo; I was learning a whole new language. Returning to Bellizzi’s feed, I wondered: Can she order an Uber with those things on? How does she floss? And, also: Do I dare?
I did not dare, not at first. I was social distancing, after all, and spicing up my fingers didn’t strike me as “essential.” Instead, I daydreamed about outré nails—the ones London-based artist Sylvie Macmillan devised for the spring/summer 2022 Dries Van Noten show, imitating the collection’s fabric on elongated fingertips; the jeweled, anime-inspired stiletto-shaped tips Los Angeles–based Coca Michelle creates for Megan Thee Stallion. I watched nail-art tutorials on TikTok. I devoured the nail news from the couture runways—the Dracula-inspired claws dangling off models’ hands at Viktor & Rolf, and the flesh-toned daggers on view at Glenn Martens’s Jean Paul Gaultier debut. Venturing back outside, I was struck by how many New York City storefronts that had been emptied out during the pandemic were now filled by salons offering Japanese-style nail art. Apparently, I’m far from alone in gravitating toward nails as the ornament du jour.
Akech wears a Paco Rabanne top and skirt; modaoperandi.com. Heaven necklace. Rings from Panconesi, Panconesi x Knwls, and Marine Serre. Model Bella Hadid wears a Jean Paul Gaultier x Y/Project dress; yproject.fr. Versace mini bag. Bottega Veneta earrings. Marine Serre necklace. Rings from Swarovski, Maryam Nassir Zadeh, and Jupiter. Manicure on Akech by Mei Kawajiri; manicure on Hadid by Natalie Pavloski.
Between the grungy nails and glitzy hardware, Akech is making all the right connections. Gucci bra top; gucci.com. Tom Ford minaudière. Givenchy ear cuff. Messika earring. Rings from Hannah Jewett, Tiffany & Co., and Steff Eleoff. Manicure by Sylvie Macmillan.
For Brooklyn-bred nail pioneer Honey, they’ve never not been a thing. “Girl, I grew up going to the nail salon,” she tells me with a shrug as she rifles through pots of glitter at her petite, appointment-only studio near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As she points out, for many women of color, long ornate nails are nothing new. Years before she was getting name-dropped as one of the fashion industry’s most innovative nail techs, Honey was tagging along with her mother on her weekly pilgrimages to their local East Flatbush salon. “That’s where all the ladies in the neighborhood hung out, getting their sets done. And just, talking about everything,” she recalls.
Hadid shows off her table manners—and a charming Roger Vivier purse—in a Chanel dress; select Chanel boutiques. Rings from Anabela Chan, Munnu The Gem Palace, Tiffany & Co., and Irene Neuwirth. Manicure by Mei Kawajiri.
Playful is certainly one way to describe Kawajiri’s exuberant nail-art style, which she workshopped while doing late-night manicures for girls heading out to clubs when she was just starting out in Tokyo; soon after moving to New York in 2012, she began posting her elaborate designs on Instagram. Today, more than 300,000 fans track her work online marveling at the surreal, bubble-dappled surfaces she creates for regular clients such as designer Marc Jacobs, both Bella and Gigi Hadid, playwright Jeremy O. Harris, and Spanish pop star/nail icon Rosalía. There’s a genuine shock of the new, which has undoubtedly helped hook a new generation of aficionados.
Stop right now, thank you very much, and note this high-shine combination of textures, tones—and attitude. Versace top and skirt; versace.com. Dior micro bag. Bottega Veneta earrings. Rings from Bulgari, Dior, and Notte. Manicure by Mei Kawajiri.
Gucci top; gucci.com. Hermès mini bag. Manicure by Sylvie Macmillan.
Moore likens this moment to the Roaring Twenties, another era when—after enduring a long pandemic (not to mention a world war)—the vibe was, as she puts it, “anything goes.” “The showiness, the flouting of norms, it’s all similar to what was happening 100 years ago,” she says. “People are tired of being locked up—in all senses.” I can testify to that—and to seeing nail art as a low-risk, high-reward way of wilding out. Especially when it comes in the form of the press-on nail, that humble product once relegated to drugstore shelves, and now itself in the midst of a renaissance. New brands such as Facile and ManiMe offer reusable, natural-looking press-ons in a variety of shapes and designs; meanwhile, L.A.-based Olive & June’s recently launched The Instant Mani kit—a cheap thrill at $10 a pack—comes with 42 tips in a broad array of sizes. For a newbie like me, Olive & June’s almond-shape, French mani–style press-ons are a nice solution—pop ’em on, and see whether long nails work for your lifestyle. They did not work for mine, at least not at first. Tying my shoelaces before a run was immediately difficult; typing, a total no-go. “You get used to them!” Bellizzi insists, after I finally work up the courage to slide into her DMs and ask for tips. “I swear, at this point I don’t even know how to use my phone if I don’t have my nails on,” she says.
Hadid wears a Chanel dress and earring; Chanel select boutiques. Rings from Anabela Chan, Munnu The Gem Palace, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Irene Neuwirth.
On Bellizzi’s recommendation, I made my way to see her friend and favorite nail artist, Natalie Pavloski, the day after the biggest blizzard to hit New York City in years. As I scaled a snowbank in Brooklyn on the way to Pavloski’s out-of-the-way studio in Greenpoint, it occurred to me that nail art does require a great deal more commitment than just darting into the corner spa when a free half hour presents itself: Gels may speed up the process, but a good nail-art mani takes time. I spent about three hours with Pavloski, a petite, punkish Australian, chitchatting about art and the excellent and totally obscure ’90s indie music on her soundtrack as she soaked off my press-ons and (gently) drilled my cuticles down to invisibility. The chitchat was important: It helped Pavloski find my own nail spirit. If the whole point of the exercise is to self-express, we agreed that my way of doing so would be to keep my nails short, and the art, to a degree, minimal. Ultimately, we devised a tonal design—matte black with smears of shine, plus one black-smudged fluorescent green nail inspired by a Warhol screen print. Pretentious? Maybe. But c’est moi. I was delighted by the result—and by the collaborative, creative experience. Before I trudged back out into the cold, Pavloski and I were already researching my next set: gels inspired by Rothko color-field paintings we dialed up on our phones.
The internet, of course, is the real game changer here, giving artists like Pavloski, Macmillan, Honey, and Kawajiri the opportunity to share their work with a global audience, while offering a global fan community a place to congregate and—ultimately—grow. “Nail art is a great ritual for every kind of person,” notes Vanity Projects founder Rita de Alencar Pinto, a 46-year-old curator who launched her salon-meets-gallery concept in 2008 with pop-ups spotlighting international nail artists in residence. Vanity Projects has since put down roots at flagships in New York and Miami, but the emphasis is still on the art: Pinto sees nails as a platform for mixed-media artists who happen to work on a very small canvas, and she’s a vigorous booster for nail art as a means of bringing a bit of the extraordinary into everyone’s lives. “It doesn’t matter who you are, what size you are—if you need a pick-me-up, you get your nails done,” she says, going on to note that a one-of-a-kind art nail can be particularly elevating. “Even if you’re stuck in the house, wearing sweats, you can still glance at your nails and feel like, Okay, but I’ve got something special here. I’ve got something that makes me feel good.”
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Originally posted from “VOGUE” by Maya Singer
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