How Kaia Gerber's Easy Claw Clip Updo Looks So Rich

She's officially my last-minute hairstyle North Star.

Kaia Gerber walking in Manhattan wearing a gray sweatshirt with a black trench coat and ballet flats
(Image credit: The Image Direct)

Today, Oct. 3, is the day I learned Kaia Gerber might really be just like me. When she's running mid-week errands and catching up on calls, she's also pulling her shower-damp hair into an easy claw clip updo.

Gerber took a break from her recent leather-on-leather outfits and J.Crew cashmere sweaters for the toned-down errand outfit photographed on Oct. 2. While some millennials might have cheered at her corded headphones—are they back, or did they never really leave?—or clocked her latest high-low styling of timeless ballet flats and sweatpants, I was laser-focused on Gerber's claw clip.

The model chose an espresso brown clippie that blended in with her long, dark hair. She then seemed to twist in back with the method I use every Monday morning when I oversleep and need to get ready in a pinch: curling a ponytail around itself and securing it to the back of her head in an assisted chignon, with a few delightfully messy pieces poking out. It's a quick and easy hairstyle so many people swear by, from editors to hairstylists to netizens of TikTok. Now, it apparently has a top model's stamp of approval.

Kaia Gerber wears a black hair clip with a black trench coat trousers and ballet flats in new york city

Kaia Gerber makes an easy claw clip feel classy with her signature styling.

(Image credit: The Image Direct)

Of course, this model can make the most average hairstyles look good—it's quite literally in her DNA. On the Toronto International Film Festival red carpet, her throwback Hervé Leger dress came with an impressively voluminous '90s blowout. A few months before that, Kaia Gerber debuted curtain bangs for a night at the theater—and became the latest celebrity proving a bangs trend is not a sign of widespread trauma in the process.

But Kaia Gerber's claw clip updo is special to me. Styled with a gray sweatshirt flung over her shoulders, a long trench coat, and oversize sunglasses, I feel like I'm looking at my reflection on the way to the bodega or an end-of-week commute—but with some extra sheen, because it's Kaia Gerber. She dressed in comfortable silhouettes that still have some structure, the clothing equivalent of her clip's hard-working yet sleek design. A few little flyaways stuck out of the clip, but it added to the overall allure. The vibe is reminiscent of Miu Miu's Fall 2024 runway, where models carried intentionally overstuffed bags with precisely layered and purposefully wrinkled shirts. It's undoubtedly chic, but not out of reach.

Kaia Gerber attends the premiere of "Shell" during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 12, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario wearing a white bondage dress from her mom cindy crawford

At the Toronto International Film Festival, Kaia Gerber wore a blowout inspired by her mom, model Cindy Crawford.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

When Copenhagen Fashion Week comes back in January, I hope I run into Kaia Gerber browsing for claw clips and scrunchies at Pico. Clearly, she's the boutique's ideal customer: a cool girl who loves her claw clips. Not that international travel is necessary to try her easy, twisted updo.

Shop Claw Clips Inspired by Kaia Gerber

Halie LeSavage
Senior News Editor (Fashion & Beauty)

Halie LeSavage is the senior fashion and beauty news editor at Marie Claire, where she assigns, edits, and writes stories for both sections. Halie is an expert on runway trends, celebrity style, emerging fashion and beauty brands, and shopping (naturally). In over seven years as a professional journalist, Halie’s reporting has ranged from fashion week coverage spanning the Copenhagen, New York, Milan, and Paris markets, to profiles on industry insiders including stylist Alison Bornstein and J.Crew womenswear creative director Olympia Gayot, to breaking news stories on noteworthy brand collaborations and beauty launches. (She can personally confirm that Bella Hadid’s Ôrebella perfume is worth the hype.) She has also written dozens of research-backed shopping guides to finding the best tote bags, ballet flats, and more. Most of all, Halie loves to explore what trends—like the rise of doll-like Mary Janes or TikTok’s 75 Hard Style Challenge—can say about culture writ large. (She justifies almost any purchase by saying it’s “for work.”) Halie has previously held writer and editor roles at Glamour, Morning Brew, and Harper’s Bazaar. Halie has been cited as a fashion and beauty expert in The Cut, CNN Underscored, and Reuters, among other outlets, and appears in newsletters like Selleb and Self-Checkout to provide shopping recommendations. In 2022, she was awarded the Hearst Spotlight Award for excellence and innovation in fashion journalism. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Harvard College. Outside of work, Halie is passionate about books, baking, and her miniature Bernedoodle, Dolly. For a behind-the-scenes look at her reporting, you can follow Halie on Instagram and TikTok.