Behind the Curtain: Marta Divel and the Invisible System Behind Every Fashion Show

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Any fashion show is a medal with two sides.

If you are sitting in a chair opposite the runway, you see only one of them. It looks like a few minutes of flawless beauty: a model steps out, the spotlight falls on her outfit, face, and hairstyle, the camera captures the movement, and the viewer has a few dozen seconds to enjoy the completed look. It is a completely different story when you are backstage…

Behind the ease of movement and the perfection of the looks, there is always a large system — fast, intense, precise, and error-free. This system works like a Swiss watch. At least, it should. Otherwise, creating that wow effect for the audience simply will not happen.

“Backstage, a hairstyle never exists on its own,” shares Marta Divel, a licensed hairstylist in the state of New York, speaking from experience. “It cannot simply be beautiful; it has to work together with the clothing, makeup, facial structure, the mood of the collection, and even the pace of the model’s movement.”

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Since 2025, Marta has held the status of a national-level master — a professional who not only serves as an example for colleagues, but also sets trends in the industry. Her professional portfolio includes numerous international fashion projects, shows, shoots, and media collaborations. In September 2024, Marta worked as a stylist at the Ivan Frolov show during New York Fashion Week, and in December of the same year she served as a hairstylist at Art Basel Miami for designer Giannina Azar.

“The main task of a hairstylist at a show is not to demonstrate technical complexity, but to create an element that becomes a natural part of the overall visual statement,” Marta summarizes. She says this not only as an international stylist, but also as an IBA winner in the “Top 10 Hairstylist” and “Hair Transformation Master” categories, as well as an IBJA judge.

A special place in Ms. Divel’s portfolio is occupied by her participation in Fashion for Ukraine projects in 2024 and 2025. In particular, Marta was the head stylist of the third season of Fashion4Ukraine, where she was responsible for the complete hair concept of the show and the team execution of the looks.

“The concept is the very first thing preparation for a show begins with: the designer presents the collection, stylists discuss the mood, references, silhouettes, fabrics, colors — and only after that does the decision about the hairstyles emerge,” Marta explains. According to her, the hair can be sleek if the collection is built around clean lines, or, conversely, soft, lively, and slightly imperfect if the clothing has a romantic or natural character. The most important thing is that the hairstyle does not compete with the look, but supports it.

In 2025, Marta took part in organizing GuvanchNYC shows and collaborated with the American company House of Annex during fashion weeks. It was work under the conditions of an intense backstage environment and high professional standards. But within this emotional chaos, Marta clearly sees her task as a head hairstylist: to turn a creative idea into a clear system for the team. And she does not just see it — she carries it out systematically.

“I have no time for overthinking or anxiety. I have to quickly explain the technique, distribute tasks, control quality, adapt the hairstyle to different hair types, and at the same time preserve a unified style,” Marta says with inspiration. “One model may have short hair, another may have thick and long hair, and a third may have curls. But on the runway, all of them must look like part of one story.”

Marta Divel has distilled her professional experience into a methodology dedicated to the art of preparing hair for long-lasting and resilient hairstyles, titled Prep Code. In this approach, preparation is viewed not as a supporting stage, but as a key professional tool that determines the speed and quality of the final look.

It would not be an exaggeration to call Marta’s approach revolutionary: it effectively changes the logic of the work and teaches stylists to see hair strategically — to assess its condition, predict how the hairstyle will behave, build the right texture, and create a foundation that works toward the result even before the hairstyle itself begins to take shape.

“A well-prepared base shortens the time needed to assemble a hairstyle, simplifies further transformations, and gives the stylist more freedom to quickly adapt to new requests from the designer or stylist,” says the author.

A significant part of the work of this creative and highly qualified hairstylist with more than 13 years of experience is devoted to clients for whom hair is not just aesthetics, but a deeply personal story. These are people experiencing alopecia or hair loss during or after cancer treatment. That is why Marta understands very well: in such cases, every touch, every decision, and every change of image requires special delicacy, silence, trust, and an individual approach.

This experience became one of the foundations of the Hair Carbon Integration System — her own hair extension method, in which technical precision is combined with personalized solutions and the pursuit of a natural result. This allows extensions not to look like a separate element, but to be organically integrated into the client’s overall image.

Among Marta’s important international cases are her work as a hairstylist with designer Naeem Khan at the Detroit Charity Gala 2025 as part of the Detroit Children’s Fund, as well as her participation in projects with Istituto Marangoni in Miami and Oscar de la Renta in New York. One cannot fail to mention her role as head stylist at the Fashion Institute of Florida shows and at the Angel Sanchez show, which took place at the Ralph Pucci gallery in Miami, as well as her participation as a stylist in the television project The Donna Drake Show.

“I am certain that professionalism is not about creating a complex shape for the sake of complexity, but about finding the right balance,” says Marta Divel. “Sometimes the best solution is a clean parting, a well-prepared texture, or hair pulled back in a way that does not distract from the dress.”

However, according to the expert, who is a member of the KSSK of Ukraine and Global Creative Masters, the technical side matters as well: “A hairstyle must withstand light, movement, waiting, outfit changes, and sometimes several runway exits in a row. It has to look good not only live, but also on camera. That is why hair preparation, product choice, fixation, clean lines, and attention to detail are decisive.”

Not by inspiration alone, as they say: backstage is a place where beauty is shaped not only by an idea, but also by fast hands, calmness, well-coordinated teamwork, and the ability to see the look as a whole.

“Keep calm and carry on!” Marta Divel says with a smile. And then she creates looks of remarkable completeness — looks the audience believes in from the very first glance.
Photography by: @photographerlasvegasaward

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