Last Night at NYFW, White Girls Discovered Bantu Knots

Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and plenty of other pop stars have been busy keeping cultural appropriation on the tip of everyone's tongue. Thanks to the proliferation of street wear and Tumblr trends like "ghetto gothic," pop has gone hip-hop -- at least in terms of style. Recently, everyone's been buzzing about FKA Twig's gelled down baby hair (á la "Chola style" chic) and Katy Perry was quick to cop those slicked down bangs and braids in her video for "This Is How We Do" -- to predictable backlash. Most recently, the look even appeared on the DKNY Spring/Summer '15 runway.

Now the latest hair appropriation trend appears to be bantu knots or "hair nubbins," as Buzzfeed regrettably called them when Rihanna owned the look at the iHeartRadio Music Awards back in May. And last night, in fashionably late form, bantu knots hit the runway. Marc Jacobs chose the knotted hairstyle to complement his parade of retro pastels at the Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2015 show. 


Meanwhile, at Fashion Rocks, British singer (and former PAPER cover girl) Rita Ora also tried out the look, pairing it with a velvet and lace french maid/figure skating costume. While bantu knots are nothing new -- Bjork, Gwen Stefani, and Coolio have all rocked the look before -- they seem poised to be NYFW's look of the moment.