Today, Oct. 3, is the day I learned Kaia Gerber might really be just like me. When she's running mid-week errands and catching up on calls, she's also pulling her shower-damp hair into an easy claw clip updo.
Gerber took a break from her recent leather-on-leather outfits and J.Crew cashmere sweaters for the toned-down errand outfit photographed on Oct. 2. While some millennials might have cheered at her corded headphones—are they back, or did they never really leave?—or clocked her latest high-low styling of timeless ballet flats and sweatpants, I was laser-focused on Gerber's claw clip.
The model chose an espresso brown clippie that blended in with her long, dark hair. She then seemed to twist in back with the method I use every Monday morning when I oversleep and need to get ready in a pinch: curling a ponytail around itself and securing it to the back of her head in an assisted chignon, with a few delightfully messy pieces poking out. It's a quick and easy hairstyle so many people swear by, from editors to hairstylists to netizens of TikTok. Now, it apparently has a top model's stamp of approval.
Of course, this model can make the most average hairstyles look good—it's quite literally in her DNA. On the Toronto International Film Festival red carpet, her throwback Hervé Leger dress came with an impressively voluminous '90s blowout. A few months before that, Kaia Gerber debuted curtain bangs for a night at the theater—and became the latest celebrity proving a bangs trend is not a sign of widespread trauma in the process.
But Kaia Gerber's claw clip updo is special to me. Styled with a gray sweatshirt flung over her shoulders, a long trench coat, and oversize sunglasses, I feel like I'm looking at my reflection on the way to the bodega or an end-of-week commute—but with some extra sheen, because it's Kaia Gerber. She dressed in comfortable silhouettes that still have some structure, the clothing equivalent of her clip's hard-working yet sleek design. A few little flyaways stuck out of the clip, but it added to the overall allure. The vibe is reminiscent of Miu Miu's Fall 2024 runway, where models carried intentionally overstuffed bags with precisely layered and purposefully wrinkled shirts. It's undoubtedly chic, but not out of reach.
When Copenhagen Fashion Week comes back in January, I hope I run into Kaia Gerber browsing for claw clips and scrunchies at Pico. Clearly, she's the boutique's ideal customer: a cool girl who loves her claw clips. Not that international travel is necessary to try her easy, twisted updo.
