Now Trending: Men With Manicures

Dreamstime M 146212264

Male manicures have become increasingly popular on Instagram, proving that what you decide to do with your nails is a core part of individual style.

In early 2017, Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia hired nail artist Mei Kawajiri to do manicures for the house's fall-winter 2017 runway show.

“I was always dreaming about doing nails for the men's show,” Kawajiri says of her menswear debut, where she painted glossy Balenciaga and Kering logos across the models' digits. Five months later, Kawajiri held a pop-up nail salon in Paris, at the now closed fashion boutique Colette. The nail hype was officially in full swing. “Eighty percent of the people who came were young fashion boys,” she says.

Soon, Kawajiri developed a roster of prestige influencer clients like Travis Scott, A$AP Ferg, Marc Jacobs and Gvasalia himself, who flock to her referral-only business for custom manicures.

With the pandemic and quarantine, men have been given the opportunity to do things at home that they normally wouldn’t: wax, perform facials and now, do their own nails.

Men today are wearing more than just clear and inky black: They're wearing designs that match their brands, gear and even their favorite celebrities.

“There's a lot less judgment nowadays,” says skater, surfer and model Evan Mock. “Who wants to listen to someone who says you can't paint your nails? It's so annoying.”

More in Trends