TONI&GUY Shapes the Narrative at London Fashion Week for Tolu Coker AW26
At London Fashion Week on Thursday, 19 February in London, the AW26 runway of designer Tolu Coker unfolded as a personal meditation on memory, mobility, and self-confrontation. Behind the scenes, the hair narrative was crafted by Efi Davies, International Artistic Director at TONI&GUY and British Hairdresser of the Year, alongside the TONI&GUY Session Team.
The Hair Direction: The Tolu Girl Reimagined
Drawing inspiration from Coker’s journey and the emotional depth of the collection, Davies envisioned a modern interpretation of the “Tolu girl.” The reference point was unmistakably rooted in the 1990s, yet reframed through a contemporary, structured lens.
Two distinct silhouettes defined the runway.
The first was a banded, flicked bob, sculpted with precision and softened with subtle movement. The shape carried a sense of discipline while the flicked ends introduced a quiet defiance, echoing the collection’s exploration of conflict and contradiction. Delicate, structured swirls along the hairline added an intimate, almost nostalgic finish that felt both archival and directional.
The second look centred on a structured low ponytail. Sleek, controlled, and deliberate in its placement, the ponytail reinforced the collection’s introspective tone. It framed the face with clarity and restraint, allowing the garments and their layered storytelling to remain at the forefront while still delivering a strong visual identity.
Both look balanced and polished with an emotional undertone, reflecting a designer turning inward and a hair team translating that introspection into form.
Craft, Control, and Finish
The hero product backstage was LABEL.M Fashion Edition Hairspray, used to secure shape while maintaining fluidity and touchability. The finish was neither rigid nor overly styled. Instead, it held structure without sacrificing movement, a technical detail that ensured the hair read cleanly under runway lighting while preserving a sense of lived-in realism.
This discipline in finish aligned seamlessly with Coker’s AW26 chapter, titled Survivor’s Remorse, a collection rooted in self-reflection, grief, healing, and the reframing of one’s origins as an incubator of growth. The hair did not overpower the narrative. It supported it, sharpened it, and gave it a silhouette.
The Power of the Session Team
What distinguished the hair direction at this show was its clarity. There was no excess. No ornamental distraction. Each model carried a look that felt intentional in design yet emotionally connected to the collection’s core themes of identity and resilience.
Under Davies’s leadership, the TONI&GUY Session Team demonstrated how technical mastery and conceptual understanding coexist at the highest level of fashion week artistry. The result was a cohesive hair story that moved in dialogue with the garments rather than in competition with them.
At Beauty Hub Magazine, we recognize moments like this as markers of where runway hair is headed. Precision remains paramount, but narrative has become equally essential. At Tolu Coker AW26, the hair was not simply styled. It was authored.
