How Designer Romeo Hunte Dominated the GTCO Runway with a Viral TikTok Trend

It could just be a regular Thursday- everyone is calm and going about their business and then all of a sudden, a new makeup trend drops on TikTok and the whole internet is abuzz with activity.

A lot of the times they’re hacks and tips, or reimagining of an already existing method or formula, and sometimes it’s a nod to a familiar character or concept, like with the beetle juice lip and cracked porcelain doll trend. But on rare occasions we see something truly fun and bizarre, like the panty hose makeup trend.

Images taken from Pinterest

The concept involves wearing a panty hose over the head of a muse and this serves as a canvas for an artist to create images from their wild imagination. The looks are usually out of the box and over the top, quirky and eccentric, designed to grab the viewers’ attention and leave an impression.

This, I believe, is what resonated with Romeo Hunte, a lifestyle luxury brand known for its use of eye-catching, intricate details to create fascinating narratives around each design. We saw this in action at the GTCO fashion weekend runway; where the clever use of the trend as part of the showcase transformed the clothes from mere outfits into costumes meant to tell a story, capturing everyone’s attention.

Images taken from Romeo Hunte’s showcase at the GTCO runway 2024

Though the show featured a number of designs from the brand’s SS25 collection that debuted some time back at New York’s fashion week (like the striped dress and fringed pants amongst others), we were able to experience them afresh and in a different way as a result of the styling and creative direction.

BTS shot of Bertha Amuga (model) for Romeo Hunte at GTCO 2024

An important message that was communicated was the versatility of an item that is built to last. Romeo Hunte showed that its designs can be reimagined and redefined in tandem with the wearer’s state of mind. They invited the consumer to get creative and be unafraid in expressing themselves, understanding that the only limitation that exists is the one in the imagination.

Who was your favorite designer on the runway this year?