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Black Hair Reimagined: The New Era of Beauty has returned for a second year ahead of the Met Gala, making its debut this year at the Altman Building in New York.
The presentation, conceptualized by celebrity hairstylist Jawara Wauchope and creative director and stylist Jrod Lacks, aims to push the boundaries of beauty while providing a platform for established and emerging creatives. Similar to last year’s event, the sculptural, whimsical, and polished hair looks serve as the centerpiece for Black Hair Reimagined. Still, each design is anchored by accompanying makeup and fashion stylings that help hair artists tell a larger story through their medium.
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Celebrity hairstylist Jawara poses with a few of his creations
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Makeup touch-ups backstage for hair artist Fesa Nu’s collection
This year’s runway show featured works by hair artists Fesa Nu (“Crowned in Ancestral Theory”), Joshua Meekins (“However You Want It”), Vernon François (“The Fifth Silhouette”), Issac Poleon (“Harmour”), Malcolm Marquez (“The Will to Change”), and cohost Wauchope (“The Divine Feminine”), along with makeup looks by Jamal Scott and Raisa Flowers and manicures by Dawn Sterling. Professional stylists Jan-Michael Quammie, Ronald Burton III, Solange Franklin, Edward Bowleg, Matthew Henson, and Yohana Lebasi collaborated with the beauty teams to bring their narratives to life.
“I’ve always been in awe of the quiet power in nature’s transitions, particularly that moment between winter and spring where nothing feels rushed, and everything is becoming. This collection lives in that in-between moment,” says François in a statement. There are elements that speak to a deeply personal and cultural language of hair, while also expanding outward into something more universal: a global rhythm shaped through an Afro lens but not confined by it. Like a chandelier catching light from every angle, each look was designed to hold presence, movement, and transformation all at once. For me, this was about honoring a true moment of becoming.”
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A model walks during François’s “The Fifth Silhouette” presentation
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A model walks during Issac Poleon’s “Harmour” collection, styled by Edward Bowleg
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Scenes from Marquez’s “The Will to Change”
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Madison Voelkel/BFA.com
Barbershop styles were on full display in hairstylist Joshua Meekins’s “However You Want It” presentation
This year’s runway event was sponsored by beauty brands Dove, Amika, L’Oréal Professional, Eadem, and Fara Homidi Beauty, along with True Hair Company, which donated the various extensions and clip-in pieces used in the show. In addition to fresh ideas and new otherworldly concepts, the presentation has set itself apart from its first iteration through intentional cultural advocacy. Echelon Noir not only aligned its event with effective haircare partners but also with initiatives that aim to support hair diversity and inclusion, including Dove’s Crown Coalition and L’Oréal Professional Products’ Texture of Change.
“We wanted others in our community and in fashion and beauty to experience what we’ve seen, but through the lens of Black creatives at the helm … curating an elevated runway show that felt real to the culture,” Lacks previously told Harper’s Bazaar. With the impact Black Hair Reimagined has on the beauty landscape as a major platform for expression by creators of color, it seems he and Wauchope are not only realizing their dreams but also creating a literal runway for others to do so.
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Lacks (left) and Wauchope (right) give closing remarks at Black Hair Reimagined 2026