Catwalk OR Art-walk?

Last week's "Deconstructing Couture Study Day" organized by the Costume Society at the London College of Fashion proved so inspirational to me! There were a great range of guest speakers, but i have to admit that Timothy Long, Curator of Costumes at the Chicago History Museum and Brigitte Stepputtis, Head of Couture at Vivienne Westwood, got my full attention. Not only made the audience realize how much the relationship between couturier and client has changed over the years, but also gave us a clear image on fashion's commercial impact.

Have you ever thought how the structure - in terms of place & spectacle -  of a fashion show or  a catwalk has changed over the years? Once, the models were able to walk among the audience in a fashion designer's private salon and the clients were even able to touch the dresses and feel their texture & fabric. Nowadays, things are completely different; fashion catwalks look more and more like museums' live exhibitions. Huge productions and great amounts of money are spend in order to create the "ultimate" fashion show, in a way that the other day no one speaks about the clothes, but everyone has something to say about the "fabulous" settings and spectacles.

I am not going to give you a strict chronological sequence of fashion shows. I will only try to point out the ones that, in my opinion, are the most relevant and, at the same time, obvious examples of this new growing trend.

PARIS—A Christian Dior fashion show, 1957.
© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

left: Victor & Rolf "bedtime stories" collection, fall 2005 RTW
right: miniature porcelain dolls from V&R exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery in London (2008)

Fendi fashion show @ the Great Wall of China, fall/winter 2007-2008 collection

Regarding the above fashion show, Fendi chief executive Michael Burke declared “This is about positioning Fendi for the next 50 years. This is not a Chinese event; it’s a world event.” 

Chanel fall 2010 RTW fashion show

Chanel's fall 2010 Ready-To-Wear fashion show at the Grand Palais Paris was actually arranged around a huge 256 tons of iceberg imported from northern Sweden.

Louis Vuitton's carousel @ spring 2012 RTW fashion show

And i will close my brief, but "straight-to-the-point" post with a video that can also be described as fashion show/catwalk and at the same time art exhibition or installation, also known as "the russian doll" from the always pioneer designers Victor & Rolf. 

Viktor & Rolf fall/winter women haute couture 1999-2000