Mercedes-Benz Spring ’12 Fashion Week NYC: Derek Lam

Orlando Pita for T3 and Phyto styles hair at Derek Lam's spring show

Lead stylist for Phyto Orlando Pita found his hair inspiration for Derek Lam’s spring show, held at the Stage at Lincoln Center, from Richard Neutra, an architect famous for his geometric structures. Pita achieved the low ponytail in only a few steps, but with added sophistication. “I don’t like to do hair people can do themselves,” said Pita. “I like to make it hard to do it yourself.”

Playing off the clean, straight lines in Lam’s collection and Neutra's designs, Pita created a hairstyle that was neat but not stiff. First, Phyto Professional Workable Holding Spray was spritzed on a brush to prepare the hair to hold the ponytail. Parted on the side and with 7 Daily Hydrating Botanical Cream for smoothness, the hair was tightly pulled through the elastic. The elastic was not just an ordinary ponytail holder you could easily use yourself, but a long stretchy string that had to be carefully wrapped around the hair. Finally, Professional Shine Defining Glossing Wax was applied to finish the look and smooth out the flyways near the bottom of the ponytail.

Makeup was done by Tom Pecheux for Estée Lauder, who implemented a lot of yellow on eyes and even on lips, and focused on a strong brow. —Kristen Heinzinger