The imperfect manicure—smudged, poorly and haphazardly applied nail polish—is the most irreverent nail trend we’ve seen take off. A liberating choice for the Miu Miu models at the most recent Paris Fashion Week, we’ve been seeing nail artists and enthusiasts embrace the look for fall more and more. At first glance, the imperfect manicure resembles the Brazilian manicure, a technique that involves applying polish beyond the edges of the nail and then cleaning up the edges. The difference is that in this case, the poorly applied polish stays exactly as it is.
Would you ever have expected to see deliberately messy and imprecise manicures be considered cool? And on top of that, appear during a Paris Fashion Week show? Well, it happened at the Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2027 runway show, which generated a lot of buzz, from the styling choices to the presence of actor Olivia Colman among the models. Add the manicure to the list of details worth discussing from that show because nail artist Mei Kawajiri, also known as Nails by Mei, decided to embrace what is usually avoided: imperfection.
