Wow! This is a pretty exciting day for the nail industry. You know how we’re usually used to seeing negative pieces in the mainstream media about the nail industry? The whole “if it bleeds, it leads” scare tactics seem to attract the viewers and local and national news outlets alike jump on these (sometimes) sensationalist stories. Well today is a day when we can all hold our heads up high. The New York Times (The freaking New York Times!) sent a reporter “undercover” with CND’s team of nail techs at New York Fashion Week.

If you don’t know, CND does the nails backstage at a ton of fashion shows during Fashion Week. They started with one show about 10 years ago and now they’re doing the nails at about 75 shows — and that’s just in New York. CND also participates in Fashion Weeks in Paris, Milan, Australia, and Dubai. A few years ago, I went backstage at New York Fashion Week with them and it was a pretty amazing process to behold. They’ve got it down to a very organized science. Techs like Roxanne Valinoti, Angie Wingle, and Kristina Baune are regular fixtures backstage at the shows. Models recognize them now. News outlets and style channels interview CND creative director Jan Arnold regularly.

The article in the Times follows the reporter as she tags along with Wingle and her team of techs. She gets a first-hand look at what doing nails backstage is like. And she comes to understand the importance of the nail look relating to the overall look for the designers. The article also has an awesome multimedia element with tons of behind the scenes photos. Definitely go check it out.

So no matter what brand of professional nail products you use, you have to admit this is a pretty cool step for the nail industry — a positive story about nail style and nail techs. (The reporter called nail techs the “unsung heros of Fashion Week.” I’m proud of what CND has accomplished and what they’re doing for the industry as a whole!

— Hannah