This week, Brisbane Fashion Festival 2026 brought together some of Australia’s most exciting fashion talent, with Schwarzkopf Professional as the official hair partner shaping the festival’s runway looks. Across a packed schedule of shows, the brand’s Creative Collective translated each designer’s vision into fashion-forward hair, proving once again that the right styling can be as integral to a collection as the clothes themselves.

Led by Hair Director Dee Parker-Attwood, the team worked closely with designers and creative teams across the Designer Salon Showings, W Brisbane Fashion Show, Carla Zampatti Runway, Hancock Prospecting Next Gen Group Show and Designer Group Show. Each look was developed to complement the individual collection, while maintaining a cohesive fashion perspective across the festival.

This season, Parker-Attwood drew on subtle ’80s references, with refined pleats, polished buns and effortless texture appearing throughout the runway program. Exceptional shine and precision brought the looks together, with Schwarzkopf Professional’s OSiS+ and Session Label ranges working behind the scenes to create and hold each style.

From the ’80s influence to creating hair that could move seamlessly between designers, Dee Parker-Attwood shares the creative thinking behind Brisbane Fashion Festival 2026, the standout looks and what goes into translating a collection into runway hair.

TJ: What was your inspiration behind the hair looks for the Carla Zampatti show for the Brisbane Fashion Festival?  

DPA: My inspiration behind the looks was a really clean, beautiful aesthetic. Obviously, the clothes are phenomenal, so I didn’t want to overpower with the hair. We decided to slick the hair back off the face, really directional hair, that ended in a beautiful, polished glass look on the back of the hair. Simple but really high energy.

TJ: What product did you use to create the looks? 

DPA: Some of the girls had quite textured hair, so we had to stretch out all of the hair. I used Schwarzkopf Professional Session Label The Coat to prep the hair, and then we blow wave the hair, iron the hair, and then we use OSiS+ Sparkler and OSiS+ Freeze to create and set all the hair off the face so that the hair doesn’t move and it stays in place with all the changes.

TJ: What trends do you see coming in? 

DPA: I’m quite lucky because I get to hair direct the whole festival. I get to do lots of different trends. For Carla Zampatti we kept it really simple, but for other shows, especially The Next Generation, I really like to push and give my team a little bit of fun with the hairstyles as well. We’ve got pleats, there was a little bit of 80s French rolls this year, and there’s a nice cool take on a pony tail. We also got some nice, beautiful textured hair as well. 

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