Is it time to say goodbye to the runway?
This week, we’re looking back on the history of the fashion show and posing the question, ‘is it time to say goodbye to the runway for once and for all?’
In May this year, Vogue noted that “just as fashion itself evolves with the times, so does the concept of the fashion show.” 2020 was a pivotal year for fashion; enthusing a more thoughtful mindset towards our consumer habits and what we choose to envelop ourselves in (especially as we sat around in our pyjamas). We’ve seen the dismay of the high-street that has given on-trend, independent stores free roam to the forefront of fashion. With so many now shopping thoughtfully, is the fashion show something really worth relishing over moving forward?
Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint-Laurent, these are just some of the historical names that have stood the test of time on the runway. Still highly admired today by all generations, many of these brands were in their rising star moment when catwalks were nothing but a means of marketing their brand and selling designs. Now, it’s unclear what exactly the fashion show is, bar a show of all shows and an extravagant expression of trends and art.
The history of the fashion show
The concept of a fashion show was first introduced in the 1860s by a designer named Charles Fredrick Worth. In an attempt to draw excitement to his designs, the Parisian father of haute couture began presenting his collections to small clusters of socialites. With this exciting new venture came the normalisation of fashion parades in the early 20th century. Worth’s innovative new marketing tool began popping up all over the world. In small salons in London, romanticised models with seductive names wore styles that would soon be treading the rumbling street outside. In Paris, Paul Poiret hosted fancy-dress balls that allowed women to dress up in outrageously uncommon garments for one night only. This phenomenon soon took over the world, forming a phenomenon around designers, including the likes of Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli.
Let’s take a quick glimpse into the following decades to see just how fashion emerged into the world, and follow the journey of the fashion show.
The 1940s and 1950s
The 40s saw the emergence of New York fashion week. But, fashion showings were still very much for the satisfaction of socialites and the upper classes who, if showed an interest in a design, would attend around six weeks of fittings before they received their final ensemble. The 1940s is probably the most similar decade to what we’re currently living in as we reignite our passion for made-to-order designs. Although today, costs are much lower and they don’t take six weeks to complete, thank goodness!
In 1947 Christian Dior became one of the first designers to allow photographers into his (notably full) fashion show. Alongside introducing publicity and photography to the fashion show, Dior is renowned for creating the ‘New Look’ which accentuated masses and masses of fabric. This can be looked back on in disgrace by a number of current slow-fashion advocates. Definitely a possible ‘tut-tut’ moment.
Spurred on by Giovanni Battista Giorgini, in the 1950s Italy introduced fashion shows in an attempt to compete with Paris and rebuild their fashion and textile industry. Such luxury brought a lot of success, and by the end of the decade, shows had moved from the smaller venues in Florence to the heart of Milan, creating Milan fashion week.
The 1970s and 1980s
The death of haute couture and the rise of ready-to-wear. Ready-to-wear collections were thriving in Paris particularly, and to coordinate the couple of shows that most mainstream designers were putting on, Paris issued the Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-Porter for Courtiers and Fashion Designers to arrange the shows. You could argue that this, known to be the beginning of Paris Fashion Week, was also the blind beginning of a spiralling world of mass production.
The following decade, the 1980s, is the decade for us Britons. Vivienne Westwood brought anarchy, history and meaning to the stages of her London shows, which quickly became a symbol of the streets. The clothes represented an underground movement; the voice of a new, careless yet thoughtful population; true grit and spirit. In an article, The Guardian noted, “Westwood’s shows were irreverent, rude and raised a one-fingered salute to the grand traditions of the fashion show.” Shows such as British Designer Show and the London Designer Collections had been organised since 1975, but it wasn’t until the grand British Fashion Council was founded in 1983 that they all came together under one roof.
The 1990s
In the years following the 90s, shows became much more about where they were and who walked down the runway. In the eyes of high-profile designers and magazines, the best shows were isolated and hard to get to, and featured only the biggest names in the game; Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and so many more (just check out George Michael’s ‘Freedom’ if you need to catch up)
Shows also began telling more important stories across the world, rather than just in London itself. Hussein Chalayan’s A/W 2000 show is one to remember. Models walked into a blank waiting room and began dissembling its interior items. Stepping into a table, a model made an adjustment to its design and it quickly became a skirt. The fabric of chairs turned to dresses as the remaining bones of the structure assembled into a suitcase. The show was an ode to refugees fleeing war-torn countries that had nothing but the clothes on their back.
We also can’t forget Alexander McQueen’s ‘Voss’ show that is widely renowned as “nothing short of monumental.” Models began staggering into a mirrored room one by one wearing bandages around their heads and acting intoxicated under their theatrical costumes resembling sea urchins and flocks of birds. The whole show was eerie, with models starring and laughing at their reflections in the one-sided mirrors; on one side a clinically white box, on the other rows of press and onlookers. At the end of the show, the white box in the centre burst ajar, uncovering a masked woman breathing through a tube, completely nude bar for a smothering of moths around her rounded body. The meaning of this show? Vanity can drive you simply mad.
Now, I’d like to provoke a question that’s been bubbling up more recently. Is it time to say goodbye to the runway? Now don’t get me wrong I completely understand the positive attributes to Fashion month; including the opportunities it provides to models, the platform it provides emerging talent and the economic impact it has on the cities that house an individual week. But in a time so desperate for change, are there just too many faults at the front row? Here is a list of reasons, inspired by the likes of other publications, why it may just be time to part ways with this nostalgic fashion staple for once and for all.
2020 has proved that it can be done
Last year, amid the uncertainties of lockdown when designers were pushed to think on their toes, many couldn’t let go of the regality of the runway show. In London, three brands held on tight to the luxury of a live event. One of which was Bora Aksu, who held a traditional runway show behind St.Paul’s church in Covent Garden. Attendees were allocated their own park bench to watch the show that was heavily inspired by World War 1, the ‘grieving period’ and the roaring twenties. (I certainly hope we’ll have a roaring twenties of our own once lockdown is over!)
JW Anderson, an established name of the London fashion week scene, chose a much more artistic approach to luxury in lockdown for his S/S21 ready-to-wear collection. To editors and buyers alone, Anderson sent out bolted books filled with mood board images, swatches of fabrics, images of models, backgrounds and even a bundle of string. Hoping to take audiences away from their phones for a minute, Anderson provided them with the ability to stage a catwalk show themselves, using physical images of models sporting Anderson’s latest designs.
Moschino’s S/S 21 collection saw stringed puppets bounding down the runway in a series of 40 styles. Nothing short of a truly whimsical Jeremy Scott show, spectators believed the puppet show was an ode to the turbulent times both present and ahead, with a slight nod to the political and societal issues at the hands of world leaders. Me? I’m just in awe of the ability to host a fashion show using such small silhouettes, for sure Moschino has used much less fabric than they have in the past, and this should be applauded.
Social media means we aren’t missing out
Looking back on the history of the runway, it’s clear it no longer has a sole purpose of selling designs to the masses. Now, the outfits that grace the runway have become so extravagant and extreme we often find ourselves questioning, “who on earth would wear that? And where to?!” the designs, much like the show itself, is a concept for the lucky few.
The runway is, however, a moving masterpiece. Anyone, regardless of class, country or colour, can appreciate just how artistic and completely bonkers designers can be in their field from the comfort of their phone screens. All thanks to Helmut Lang who in 1998 became the first designer to show his collection online, followed closely by Alexander McQueen who became the first to Livestream their show. This new collaboration between luxury fashion and social media meant that more audiences could be included in the magic of the fashion show.
Today, brands take over all forms of media in the run-up to fashion week. That JW Anderson show we just mentioned quickly jumped on the TikTok hype. Many brands like Burberry and Dior also held audience-free shows that could only be watched via livestream. With a special thanks to lockdown 2020, fashion weeks are straying from the isolated, need-to-know shows many designers went to the earth’s end to achieve.
Some fashion weeks have already become completely virtual
It seems to be that as well as being a circus of fashion, it’s also one big competition of designers creating the most sought-after looks that they hope will appear on the front screens of computers all over the world tomorrow. If that’s the case, fashion weeks would be flying to keep up with Helsinki Fashion Week. Since its launch in 2016, Helsinki fashion week has been set on throwing the most sustainable, digital led fashion week of all. In August 2020, they did just that as they hosted their first purely digital and sustainable showcase via a platform called ‘Digital Village’ like that of a Twitch livestream event. The show saw 31 designers from all over the world come together to showcase their collections online, having worked alongside 3-D artists to create wasteless, virtual runways.
WWD reported on the matter during the time; drawing attention to the offputting models clad in virtual replicas that if anything looked even better than their real counterparts. Just take a look at Digital Village X Patrick McDowell where models bounced down a runway surrounded by statues of angels emblazoned in graffiti. Set way up in the palace of heaven, what seemed to be organza and silk materials moved in a completely new way as diamonds shone like never before. All of this is surrounded by ‘pretend’ scenes that don't cost the planet in any way, unlike the runways of today where sets are composed just to be torn down and taken to landfill, just like everything else.
As well as fake sets, virtual runways are a wonderful alternative to runway shows that leave traces and traces of air pollution in their wake. Just last year fashion month emitted as 241,000 tons of C02. That’s enough to power times Square for 58 years according to The Cut. In August 2019, Lucy Siegle wrote a compelling piece for The Guardian expressing her distaste towards fashion week and the work of Extinction Rebellion. Introducing the article she wrote, “the four premier global fashion jamborees (London, New York, Paris and Milan) continue to celebrate a system of production and consumption that is spinning us ever closer to ecological Armageddon.”