Fashion show

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For other uses, see Fashion show (disambiguation).

Nataliya Gotsiy modeling for Cynthia Rowley, Spring 2007 New York Fashion Week

Models wearing Slava Zaitsev fashions in Moscow, January 2007.

Men's fashions for 1948, shown in Los Angeles

A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase his or her upcoming
line of clothing during Fashion Week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the
Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons. This is where the latest fashion trends are made.
The most influential fashion week is the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, also known as
New York Fashion Week, which showcases twice a year.

In a typical fashion show, models walk the catwalk dressed in the clothing created by the
designer. Occasionally, fashion shows take the form of installations, where the models
are static, standing or sitting in a constructed environment. The order in which each
model walks out wearing a specific outfit is usually planned in accordance to the
statement that the designer wants to make about his or her collection. It is then up to the
audience to not only try to understand what the designer is trying to say by the way the
collection is being presented, but to also visually deconstruct each outfit and try to
appreciate the detail and craftsmanship of every single piece. A wide range of
contemporary designers tend to produce their shows as theatrical productions with
elaborate sets and added elements such as live music or a variety of technological
components like holograms, for example.

[edit] History
Because "the topic of fashion shows remains to find its historian",[1] the earliest history of
fashion shows remains obscure.

In the 1800s, "fashion parades" periodically took place in Paris couture salons.[2]

American retailers imported the concept of the fashion show in the early 1900s.[2] The
first American fashion show likely took place in 1914 in the New York City store Ehrlich
Brothers.[2] By 1910, large department stores such as Wanamaker's in New York City and
Philadelphia were also staging fashion shows.[2] These events showed couture gowns
from Paris or the store's copies of them; they aimed to demonstrate the owners' good taste
and capture the attention of female shoppers.[2]

By the 1920s, retailers across the United States held fashion shows.[2] Often, these shows
were theatrical, presented with narratives, and organized around a theme (e.g. Parisian,
Chinese, or Russian).[2] These shows enjoyed huge popularity through mid-century,
sometimes attracting thousands of customers and gawkers.[2]

In the 1970s and 1980s, American designers began to hold their own fashion shows in
private spaces apart from such retailers.[2] In the early 1990s, however, many in the
fashion world began to rethink this strategy.[2] After several mishaps during shows in
small, unsafe locations, "[t]he general sentiment was, 'We love fashion but we don't want
to die for it,'" recalls Fern Mallis, then executive director of the Council of Fashion
Designers of America.[2] In response to these shows, the New York shows were
centralized in Bryant Park during fashion week in late 1993.[2] Lately from the 2000 to
today, fashion shows are usually also filmed and appear on specially assigned television
channels or even in documentaries. [3]

[edit] See also

• Fashion
• Fashion week

[edit] References
1. ^ Valerie Steele, chief curator and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute
of Technology, quoted in Fortini, Amanda. How the Runway Took Off: A Brief
History of the Fashion Show. Slate Magazine (Feb. 8, 2006).
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fortini, Amanda. How the Runway Took Off: A Brief History of
the Fashion Show. Slate Magazine (Feb. 8, 2006).
3. ^ Bible Black, a documentary on a fashion show held by Andrew Mackenzie
Urban.dk, 13.11.2008, artikel-id: e14a0053 (Nov. 11, 2008).

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_show"

Categories: Fashion events

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