In this week’s blog, Costume Society News Editor Dr Babette Radclyffe-Thomas reviews Vogue: Inventing the Runway show at the Lightroom.
The history of the runway show has been blown up and projected on an unprecedented scale in an impressive experience at the Lightroom space in London. Vogue’s archive is explored and projected across four large walls and the floor in a 50-minute-long show that runs on repeat and cycles through five sections. Narrated by actress Cate Blanchett, there is a mix of print media, film, animations, first-hand testimony, archive runway footage and all accompanied by a score fusing classical and pop music. There are over 60 designers included, and the show focuses on the main four fashion cities – New York, London, Paris and Milan- and large globally renowned design houses such as Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga.
Clips from significant fashion shows are projected across multiple walls as well as testimony from designers who created the looks that featured in the shows, models who walked and magazine editors who attended them. Behind the scenes images are shown alongside runway footage, and the show is punctuated by impactful moments such as the Chanel-branded rocket that launched at the end of Karl Lagerfeld’s A/W 17 show!
“Runway shows have reflected society and its values for more than a century. We hope that Inventing the Runway gives audiences a better understanding of how those shows mirror the changes not only in fashion, but also culture at large—the arts, entertainment, technology, politics, and the ways that they’re all intertwined,” said Mark Guiducci, Creative Editorial Director, Vogue. For Vogue’s editorial team, this is an opportunity for the public to witness fashion shows up close, and to delve into a slice of the magazine’s extensive archive.
Thematic sections include: ‘Stage and Spectacle’, ‘Disruptors’, ‘The Audience’ and ‘Behind Closed Doors’. Each section commences with a historical overview, before culminating in contemporary fashion show footage. The ‘stage and spectacle’ section features footage from John Galliano’s shows at Dior and Margiela, the ‘disruptors’ section includes Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2001groundbreaking use of a mirrored cube in his show. Next, different fashion show locations are shown from Mary Quant’s 1960s travels to Dior in Mumbai and Marrakech. ‘The audience’ section explores how magazine editorials in Vogue brought the runway to life and key technological developments such as livestreaming shows, the impact of Covid lockdowns have impacted the audience of fashion shows. ‘Behind closed doors; explores the teams backstage that bring fashion shows to life as well as the celebrities on the front rows. Throughout all sections, the role fashion shows play in storytelling and as a promotional vehicle for designers is detailed.
The exhibition runs until April 26th; tickets can be booked here.
