What does it take to make it in the world of A-list nails? From 10-hour paint sessions and competitive nail conventions to Lady Gaga music videos and the Met Gala red carpet, we found out
W henthe front row has departed, the catwalk show is over and the models replaced by crew in neon jackets, it’s unlikely anyone thinks to look down at a fashion show’s detritus. But they should.
Scattered across the floor, like confetti at the end of a concert, you’ll find tiny, squashed nail tips, pulled off nail beds and discarded, only to be swept up and never seen again. Look a little closer and you’ll realise this debris isn’t any old litter. These tiny tips are miniature works of art. Art that has taken hours to create, craft and develop. Art that has utilised everything from intricate colour palettes and brushes to powders, feathers and even gemstones. Art that is years in the making, its masters battling it out to get where they are. This is the world of high-fashion, high-concept celebrity nail art. An industry where, if you scratch below the surface, the high stakes and even higher drama are as outlandish as the creations themselves…
After decades of being seen by many as the supporting act to hair and make-up’s headliner, nails have finally earned their rightful place in the (UV) spotlight. Starting in humble local nail salons, a staple of any high street, the mastery of a good manicurist grew in fame and status the same way as most things: the internet. Thanks to social media sites like Pinterest and Instagram (remember those #ManiMonday posts?), the 2000s saw nails become a key accessory to any outfit. Then, things blew up even more when CND (aka Creative Nail Design) launched the first ever gel polish in 2008 – it quickly became known as the two-week manicure. As interest in nails grew, so did the industry’s worth. In fact, the global nail-care market is estimated to reach £9.6bn by 2027, while #nails has over 78.2bn views on TikTok, up by 20bn over the summer of 2022. Good to know I’m not the only one having midnight mani scrolling sessions. But what does it take to get a piece of that pie? I set out to meet the artists and technicians at every level of the game to find out.
One woman who’s seen the evolution of nail art from something barely considered by the fashion world to a billion-pound business, is Marian Newman. After 35 years in the industry, she is an icon. But as she tells me over a Zoom call, when she first started out, arriving on shoots to work ‘only on nails’, she was often ‘looked up and down’.
A self-proclaimed ‘science education geek’, Newman started out in forensics with the Metropolitan Police. (Yep, you read that right…) She came across the world of nails ‘completely by accident’ while helping a friend with some research and just fell in love
