The flat iron: pristine, poker-straight locks prove popular at New York Fashion Week

With driving rain, a foot of snow on the ground and gale-force winds strong enough to make your mascara run, the looks on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week were at odds with those worn on the streets outside.

Namely because in the US fashion capital - the spiritual home of Park Avenue approved glossy blow-dries and perfect manicures - the forecast was no friend to any show-goer attempting to maintain an air of composure. As a result, even street style’s proudest peacocks were forced to defer to practical ponytails and giant puffer jackets - albeit, Balenciaga ones.

Away from the hostile weather front, however, on the micro-managed microcosm of the catwalk, New York’s cool, calm and collected façade was firmly intact. While those who sat front row fought frizz, tamed tangles and tried desperately to resemble anything other than a hot mess, those on the catwalk championed the sort of pristine, poker-straight locks that have only felt the warm kiss of a hairdryer and a set of flat irons rather than 60mph winds.

At Proenza Schouler, a sharp architectural silhouette was teamed with a slick sheet of smooth hair created by Holli Smith for Bumble and Bumble. “It’s definitely more polished than past seasons - for me it’s a way to be neat and clean with a graphic form thrown in,” said Smith. “It makes a new statement.”

To recreate the look, she suggests creating a middle parting on dry hair, smoothing on a little of Bumble and Bumble’s Don’t Blow It Air Styler (£23, bumbleandbumble.co.uk), before flat-ironing hair and finishing with a spritz of Thickening Hairspray (£22) to control the roots.

Narciso Rodriguez also championed a well-groomed look at his AW17 catwalk show, while for his latest collection for DVF, Jonathan Saunders enlisted a look so precise you could still see the comb tracks in the model’s power side-parting.

Victoria Beckham, on the other hand, proved her aptitude for getting into the minds of real women by pairing her clothing for city slickers with a reassuringly low-maintenance hairstyle.

Super-stylist Guido, who created the looks backstage, recommends washing with Redken’s Diamond Oil shampoo (£14.50, redken.com) and conditioner (£16) for squeaky-clean locks before air-drying to give it “an almost child-like shine to hair”.

If you’re not naturally blessed with model-behaviour hair, Guido also suggests blow-drying the top of your mop to flatten it down and tucking the lengths behind your ears for a sleek finish.

As for the tools of the trade to help you, things don’t get much slicker than Dafni’s Hair Straightening Ceramic Brush (£120, uk.dafni.life).

Claiming to be 10 times more powerful and eight times faster than flat irons - thanks to their wider surface area and one-minute heat-up time - simply brush through hair in the morning for a kink-free finish in less time than it takes to boil the kettle. There’s also a smaller, portable version for anyone planning a trip to the Big Apple soon.