Julie Kandalec of CND Creates Nail Look for Christian Cowan Fall/Winter 2025 NYFW Show

The Christian Cowan Fall/Winter 2025 runway show at New York Fashion Week was held at The Glasshouse. Lead nail artist, celebrity manicurist and educator Julie Kandalec created the beauty look by CND.

“Nails are the perfect finishing touch to any look—they complete the vision. Julie’s incredible artistry takes it to the next level, elevating the entire look. We spent weeks finalizing the designs, ensuring every detail was perfect. I was thrilled to collaborate with her on these nails, seamlessly blending our new signature polka dots and seasonal feather details,” said Christian Cowan.

“For the main look, we wanted to highlight the cutout circles in a subtle way. I love tonal designs and playing with different levels of opacity, so I designed this look to have both, and in 10 shades of peach, sheer white and mocha, from the most translucent pink to a deep chocolate brown from CND Shellac. The semi-circles were hand-painted on in a painterly way with blurred edges,” said Kandelec.

“For the feather nails, I knew that I wanted to create something big and bold – so I attached the feather in reverse, almost as if the models were writing with a quill pen,” she added.