Runway presentations are not called “shows” for nothing. With the aim to impress, designers often up the wow factor with some of the most out-there designs.
It is not just the clothes that can turn heads too. There are even the occasional theatrical elements added in for good measure.
Other times, celebrity guests will appear in a grand and bizarre manner to really get cameras flashing.
Such was the case for the recent fashion week runway shows – both Spring/Summer 2023 Couture Week last month, and the ongoing Autumn/Winter 2023 womenswear fashion weeks.
Take for example Kylie Jenner, who drew all eyes when she attended the Schiaparelli couture show wearing a lion head on one shoulder.
No, the “fashion accessory” is not real. It was sculpted out of foam, embroidered with wool and silk faux fur, then painted. Yet, it still caused a ruckus on social media – even drawing criticisms for “normalising animal cruelty”.
Doja Cat appeared at the same show covered in 30,000 red crystals. They were glued to her skin, from top of the head to tips of the finger nails.
A few days after that, she was seen at the Viktor & Rolf couture presentation sporting fake eyelashes in place of a moustache, soul patch and eyebrows. It was a clapback at critics who said that she looked alien-esque without lashes in her previous look.
“If lashes are what you all want, then lashes are what you’ll get,” she wrote in her Instagram story.
Again, this went viral and managed to pull in interest from people who would not normally even take note of fashion. So, purposed well served.
Read more: Young brands in vogue at New York Fashion Week, while most big names absent
Art is what you can get away with
There were still beautiful (read: less gimmicky) moments at Couture Week though. During the Jean-Paul Gaultier runway show, models walked out slowly and sensually. They took their time to pose artistically in front of photographers as if in a photoshoot, as well.
Chanel, however, turned its couture runway into a circus show. Nevertheless, there were no clowns around. The whole event was as tasteful and chic as possible.
Models walked out of wooden animal sculptures. A few of them were dressed like ringmasters wearing top hats.
Viktor & Rolf (pictured on the cover) went for both avant-garde and classic sophistication. While a number of looks comprised the usual elegant showstoppers and presented normally, others were boundary-pushing.
Ballgowns were worn upside down, sideways or off-kilter. One dress even “walked” in front of the model, held inches away from the body in sort of a magical trick.
Valentino took couture literally to the night club. It was held at a famous Paris joint under the Pont Alexandre bridge.
You would expect the models to be dancing as they came out on the runway, but no, it was keep as solemn as possible. Yet the clothes definitely brought to mind clubgoers, with micro tops, jumpsuits and jackets all embodying a cool, edgy vibe.
Iris Van Herpen presented her couture collection virtually, but it was still as dramatic as possible.
In the short film released, models were seen swimming – or rather, voguing underwater – wearing diaphanous gowns. It was shot at the Y-40 pool in Italy, which, at the time of construction, was the deepest manmade pool in the world at 138 ft deep (42.1m).
“For some people, fashion is just clothes. But it’s so much more than that,” Van Herpen told Vogue.
Out of this world
At the Autumn/Winter 2023 womenswear New York Fashion Week, the drama continued. Collina Strada turned models into animals – no joke!
The title of the show was “Please Don’t Eat My Friends”, so it all seems appropriate, but you simply can’t think that this is normal appearance in any way – no matter how much you embrace the concept of avant-garde fashion.
For Thom Browne, it was a world beyond our own planet that inspired him.
A crashed aeroplane was part of the set. The show then opened with a voiceover explaining that the models appearing on stage were visitors to a new planet.
Talking to the media backstage, Browne said the show was based on The Little Prince, the 1943 novella that tells the story of a young boy visiting various planets including Earth.
“It’s so important to create a fantasy that makes the world so much more interesting to live with,” he commented.
The Sukeina show looked like a pretty regular runway presentation at first, but ended with a bang.
Supermodel Coco Rocha closed it with a performance. She walked and posed for close to two minutes on stage. It was done to dramatic effect, where she mimicked John Singer Sargent’s painting of a dancer, El Jaleo .
Yes, it was theatrics, but used in the most profound and stylish manner.
Read more: Legacy of late designer Vivienne Westwood the focus of London Fashion Week
Doing things differently
Over in London, actress Florence Pugh gave a surprise performance at the Harris Reed show. She opened it with a captivating monologue.
“Clothing has a transformative power – whether for an actor or simply a performer on the stage of life,” Pugh told guests.
Modelling a circular headpiece and matching gown in a sequined harlequin pattern, plus a black velvet corset, she set the stage for a theatrical show.
“The art of dressing up allows us to express who we truly are, creating a safe space to inhabit in a sometimes judgemental world,” she went on.
“Our costumes can change who we want to be seen as, and who we are destined to be. I invite you to embrace the lame (fabric) and sequins of life, because all the world’s a stage.”
Unhidden also presented its collection in a beautiful manner.
The fashion brand used 30 models, all of whom live with a disability, chronic condition or visible difference.
“Unhidden is an adaptive fashion brand primarily targetted at inclusion within fashion of people with disabilities,” creative director and founder Victoria Jenkins told Reuters.
Jenkins, who has reduced mobility, designs to address a gap in the market – and her runway show was definitely a welcome move in sending the right message.
For the Simon Rocha show, it was live music that gave it a different feel.
A four-member band played brooding tunes on stage as models walked out. The soundtrack’s tempo later started picking up, playing with emotions as the designs tell a story. You could say it was more a stage show than a fashion runway.
As the fashion weeks now move to Milan and later, Paris, it can be expected that more dramatic shows emerge.
In the age of social media where the unusual and eccentric can often go viral easily, showmanship is everything in fashion right now. It is a matter of how far designers would want to push the boundaries of their shows – and where to draw the line between the bizarre and the beautiful.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
