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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Chloe Mac Donnell

Recession nails or racial erasure? Why a ‘naked’ manicure is not as neutral as it seems

A woman peeks through her fingers as both hands cover her smiling face
Short and unvarnished nails were everywhere at Copenhagen fashion week. Photograph: Jutta Klee/Getty Images/fStop

Trends at Copenhagen fashion week are usually easy to spot. The so-called “fifth fashion week”, a laidback sibling to the other four main fashion cities, has previously popularised everything from romantic floaty dresses with practical trainers to giant hair scrunchies. But during its latest iteration that wrapped up on Friday, a much more subtle trend had emerged – naked nails.

From the models on the catwalks to show-goers and passersby, fingers and toes featured short and unvarnished nails. The trend is a sharp shift away from the long, bright and glossy mani/pedis that have more recently dominated beauty standards.

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