When attending a fashion show, the elements that capture our attention are multiple: obviously, the major focus is for the looks on the runway, but let’s admit it, what plays an equally important role are the location and the setting in which the fashion show comes to life.
It is never “just” a “simple” setting: this, in fact, conveys the first details of a collection even before the fashion show begins, helping to create a mood from which to be captured, and being transported into a world, that of the designer, where as spectators we become protagonists, taking part to the vision of the brand.
Even before the lights go down, the music begins, and the first model sets foot on the runway, the fashion show sets act as the first, true protagonists of the event: over the years, we have witnessed spectacular and often unexpected installations or locations, which have left us speechless. During the last 10 years, there has been a great explosion of creativity, and it is not unusual to remember a certain collection precisely for its set (at least, it is not for me).
That’s why making a top 10 of the best recent fashion show sets was quite difficult, but, in the end, I opted for the ones I just can’t stop thinking about. Take a seat in the front row then, the show is about to begin, even if only in our memories now!
LOUIS VUITTON – Spring/Summer 2012
When Marc Jacobs leaves the job as creative director of Louis Vuitton, he does so in a memorable way: he installs a white horse carousel inside the Louvre (which has still remained the brand’s reference location, led by successor Nicolas Ghesquière). The models, wearing ethereal clothes, as if they were the protagonists of a dream, ride white horses that go around in circles gently, while light music transports us almost by magic to the most fashionable amusement park ever. A delicate setting that, even today, makes us sigh.
DIOR – Fall 2012 Couture
Perhaps the fashion show set that, over the last 10 years, has been talked about the most, to which everyone still thinks with nostalgia (please, don’t make me feel like I’m the only one). The debut of Raf Simons as a designer also of the brand’s couture collection was a triumph from every point of view, both for the clothes presented and for the location’s setting. The walls of the rooms of a typical Parisian apartment have been entirely covered with millions of fresh flowers: the blue room with Delphinium, the white room with orchids, the yellow room with mimosas and so on, therefore celebrating Christian Dior’s passion for flowers and launching a strong message of rebirth and new direction of the brand. Marc Jacobs described the atmosphere as “absolutely magnificent” at the end of the event, and I couldn’t agree more.
CHANEL – Fall/Winter 2014
We all go the grocery store, but not all of us have the opportunity to go in a supermarket where the products are branded Chanel! Karl Lagerfeld has always been a master in creating sensational fashion show sets inside the Grand Palais in Paris (from the space base to the airport, from the miniature reproduction of the Eiffel Tower to the cruise ship), but what most of all left the spectators speechless was undoubtedly the supermarket: here, the models walked through the aisles full of Chanel products (over 500), stopping every now and then to load the cart (or the hand basket that recalled the Chanel 2.55) before heading to the checkout. A celebration of consumerism, wanting to quote the designer who said: “Fashion must be consumed immediately. The best that can happen to a dress is to be worn. Not to be displayed in a museum.” Or rather, in a supermarket.
FENDI – Fall 2016 Couture
A collection and a fashion show that served to celebrate a double milestone: the 90th anniversary of the brand and the end of the restoration of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, financed by Fendi. Karl Lagerfeld make his models walk on a transparent plexiglass runway, giving the impression that they are walking directly on the water, while the night and the Fountain itself shine under a dazzling light. A celebration of the past, of the beauty of the Eternal City and of fashion itself that has made us and still makes us dream.
RODARTE – Spring 2018 RTW
In the Cloître Port Royal gardens in Paris, Kate and Laura Mulleavy (with the help of Bureau Betak, the most famous fashion show design studio in the world founded by Alexander De Betak) give life to a triumph of nature and beauty that is not just the frame, but also the protagonists of a collection that turn the beauty of the flowers into its muse. Colorful flowers adorn the avenues of the cloisters, as well as headdresses of white flowers make the models almost water lilies, dressed in light clothes and pastel shades that create an ethereal atmosphere. A magic fashion show that, personally, has never left me and is still the screensaver of my phone.
YVES SAINT LAURENT – Fall/Winter 2019
Anthony Vaccarello at the helm of Yves Saint Laurent is, in my opinion, one of the most successful stylistic combinations of recent years, with collections that know how to rework the stylistic canons of the brand in a sensual and modern key. For the recent seasons, the designer has opted for open-air fashion shows under the Eiffel Tower, starting with the one in September 2018 for the Fall/Winter 2019 collection. Imagine the atmosphere: evening falls, and the lights of the Eiffel Tower are turned on. You take a seat on the bleachers and, in front of you, the runway is covered with water, with 10 bright white palm trees reflecting on it, symbolizing Yves’ love for North Africa. The first model walks the runway, creating ripples on the water that, together with the clothes and the surrounding scenery, make the experience extremely suggestive. And, definitely, unforgettable.
GUCCI – Cruise 2019
I remember following this show live on the brand’s IG profile and, when they showed the location, I shouted: “Is it set in a necropolis?! How wonderful.” And not just any necropolis, but the Roman necropolis of Alyscamps, near Arles, France which, for the occasion, served as a Gothic setting for what Alessandro Michele himself defined as “a rave party at the cemetery”. Streaks of fire and flames illuminate the night of Arles and the runway, where the outfits play between ancient and modern, between sacred and profane, between mystery and intrigue. “Alyscamps is a necropolis, but it is also a promenade; it became a place for walking in the ‘700. It is a hybrid, layered place. It does not look like a cemetery because it is but at the same time it is not. I’m passionate about things that seem different from what they are,” said Michele. There is no doubt that we will miss his ability to celebrate the individualistic beauty at the helm of Gucci.
JACQUEMUS – Spring/Summer 2020
Before Versailles, before the beach, before the wheat field, for Jacquemus there was the iconic pink walkway in the lavender field of Valensole, Provence. A magical place where Simon Porte Jacquemus celebrated ten years of his brand. The fragrance of the lavender, a postcard on purple hues without horizon, a celebration of art, beauty and personal history of the designer, linked since childhood to these places. The perfect setting to present clothes with pop colors, oversized models and comfortable allure typical of the brand we have fallen in love with over the years.
LAQUAN SMITH – Spring/Summer 2022
In the beginning it was “Empire State of Mind,” the song by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. Then came designer LaQuan Smith, who chose the panoramic rooftop of the Empire State Building in New York as the location for his fashion show. An opportunity, for the designer, to celebrates the vibrant strength of New York, luxury and the new heights he wants to reach with his brand. With the lights of the city illuminating the horizon, LaQuan Smith has strengthened his idea of sensuality and comfort that goes well with the American style.
VALENTINO – Spring 2023 Couture
The work that Pierpaolo Piccioli is carrying out with Valentino is pure poetry. If he then decides to set a couture showcase in a castle, then his poetics turns into a fairy tale that tastes of beauty, uniqueness, freedom and playfulness, as well as, of course, haute couture. For the 2023/2024 season, Valentino presented the couture collection at the Château de Chantilly: a place of history and splendor whose gardens and waterways become runways where draped dresses, jeans or silk suits, huge crystals as earrings and bright colors give life to a new idea of elegant maximalism that is never enough.
