Hair trends for autumn/winter 2012

If 2011 was all about Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, 2012 looks set to be the year that London's other favourite Kate - the irrepressible Miss Moss - reclaims her crown as style ambassador to the city. 

Supermodel Kate has always inspired designers, but this season saw countless stylists backstage cite the model as their muse, particularly in her Johnny Depp-dating, grunge-goddess era when her dishevelled lengths were paired with a raked-back parting, a smudge of root regrowth and barely-there make-up for a look that was emulated worldwide.

This laidback look is all about natural texture - air-dried with a spritz of salt spray or tonged through the lengths and brushed out to create a kink of movement rather than a perfectly-formed curl or wave. 

An imperfect centre-parting, styled by hand rather than with a comb, adds to the DIY feel and was imperative at shows throughout the season.

It's not just about dishevelled lengths either - bed-head texture was incorporated into flirty ponytails, romantic updo's and scraped-back buns too for a refreshing take on grunge style. It's done, but not 'done' - the grunge girl has grown up, but she'd hate for you to notice. 

Plaits are a perennial catwalk favourite thanks to the wealth of varieties and styles that can be created with them - from pretty Heidi-style handworked halo braids and textured asymmetric styles to more tribal updo's incorporating twists and knots. 

This season was no different, with twists worked into ponytails, buns and chignons as well as left loose and low-slung. And with a stand-alone braid bar launching in New York this month for plait-happy clients tired of the standard pre-night out blow-dry, it's evident that this trend is going nowhere soon.

Typically considered a Summer style, the Autumn/Winter season sees plaits and braids taken out of their typical holiday hair context and used instead to create hand-crafted, artisan-inspired textural detail for a refreshing update and enduring seasonal suitability. 

Knotting and twisting the hair serves practical uses too, ensuring the technique should be a must-have for hairdressers. At Christopher Kane, the deliberately thin-looking, grungy waves were achieved by tightly braiding sections from ear-to-ear to reduce bulk, and the proliferation of wigs at this season's shows also relied on hair being wrapped to the head to provide the perfect base. At Ashish, it wasn't hair that was plaited but gold thread, which was woven through sections of hair to create a shimmering panel of texture.

Neat or frayed, matte or gloss, tight to the head or loosely swinging at the shoulders - this season's plaits allow your clients to choose their style tribe and wear braids their way.

Last season saw fashion forerunners dip a tentative toe in the wet-look trend but for Autumn/Winter 2012, it's more of a head-first dive into this perennially popular style.

More often associated with the Summer months, the wet look is set to stick around for Winter this year proving that the sleek, streamlined, sporting influence of the Olympics seems set to remain strong for another season. 

Seen at countless shows, the finish varied from greaser-girl, high-shine quiffs with sleek sides or intentionally comb-marked crowns to a discretely damped-down hairline contrasting against fluffy, dry-looking curls for a dual-texture look.

Combined with super-sleek, poker-straight styles or incorporated into softer, more romantic updo's, there's more to the trend than leaving the house with wet hair - it's all about artfully drenching hair with a layered-on combination of products for a glistening, high-shine finish that looks intentional, rather than accidental.

Make wet-look work for everyday styles with a more subtle take on the trend - glistening, high-shine polish. Paint shine spray on to the crown using a tinting brush for a super-sleek finish to a ponytail or bun, or use lashings of glossy pomade to give a side-parted crop a gamine, dressed-up feel.

As catwalk designers return to traditional couture techniques in a bid to firmly distinguish themselves and their work from fast, disposable fashion on the high street, this season also saw session stylists backstage working with classic hairdressing techniques to create looks rooted in heritage for styles that were clever, complicated and coiffed to perfection.

Coexisting in direct contrast to the effortlessly undone grunge look, these artfully structured styles may end up being mussed-up and brushed-out for a modern update, but the base is steeped in tradition and utterly relies upon skilful vintage methods. From fingerwaves and chignons to pleats and pin curls - it's time to dust off the text books and get practising those forgotten arts.

Further proving the depth of devotion to the time-honoured traditional techniques, it wasn't stars from the golden age of Hollywood or retro glamour icons that served as inspiration for stylists working backstage this season - it was the names behind the manes. From Léonard and Marcel Grateau to Antoine and Alexandre de Paris, style references provided by those working backstage served as a crash-course in hairdressing history.

Providing the perfect alternative to a laidback pony or instant topknot, these styles are intricate, technical and time-consuming, but oh so worth it.