'When I was starting out modeling and living in LA, I had the exact same haircut that I have now except it was platinum blonde. I got to New York and my agency was like, 'No,' so they dyed my hair dark, and by the time I got to Paris Fashion Week, my bangs had grown a little bit longer to the point where I didn't really have bangs anymore,” Sarah Brannon says about her wonky, but still enviable, bangs. It's probably what makes them cool—the fact that there's no copying the style since they just sort of grew out that way. Either way, they've served her well, landing her in the opening spot at a Givenchy show.

“'Sarah, we want you to open the show,' Riccardo told me, so I was like, 'Fuck yeah!' And then he was like, '...but, we want to cut you hair—just a little trim.' The next day at the show they cut my hair ridiculously short. It was a very graphic, straight-across, and blunt cut. My hair grew out really fast though, and my bangs grew out really long, so I managed, but then I got baby bangs for Alexander Wang. I’m OK with it. I’d rather people let my hair grow because I’m trying to grow it out, but if it’s for an important job or something, then I’ll totally do it. The thing is, I get really bored of my hair every couple of months, so when they said they were going to cut my hair I was like, 'Let’s do it! I’m totally down!' But a week later I was like, 'OK, this is kind of a bitch' because my hair is so thick, and it was a blunt cut. It was like a fucking triangle. It looked like I had a fucking triangle on my head,”

Triangle-head syndrome is real, particularly if you're on the uphill battle against that frayed look of rampant split ends. Sarah still uses drugstore shampoo and conditioner, but follows up with olive and coconut oils from Whole Foods, she said, which helps with the damage from various blunt cuts, heat styling, and black dye. For low-heat styling, she air dries most of the way, finishes off with a quick all-over blow dry, and sprays a bit of Captain Blankenship's Mermaid Sea Salt Hair Spray, but just at the roots, “otherwise it will make my hair poof out down here. I just put it in my scalp and let it mess,” Now you know.

Sarah Brannon (New York Model Management) photographed by Tom Newton.