From theatricality to innovation and emotion, we shine a spotlight on some of the most iconic fashion shows of all time.
Coperni WW SS2023 – The spray dress
It's a moment we're unlikely to forget. In September 2022, in the midst of Paris Fashion Week, Coperni unveiled its new spring collection for women in the Textile Room of the Musée des Arts et Métiers. Silhouette after silhouette, the creative duo of Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant wowed the audience. For the finale, the fashion house pushed the boundaries of the imaginable by covering supermodel Bella Hadid with a liquid that hardens on contact with her skin: Spray-on fabric.
Combining cotton with synthetic fibres and including a polymer solution, the latter was created in 2010 by Spanish designer and scientist Manel Torres. Used mainly for medical purposes, the innovation captivated the designers.
On the catwalk, in a matter of minutes that seemed like seconds to us, so amazed were we, the team of specialists created a new Coperni dress, both minimalist and incredibly complex.
Mugler Couture FW97-98 – The chimera
When you delve into the archives of the genius Thierry Mugler, it is almost impossible to make a choice. However, we had to resign ourselves to summarising his art in one collection: the autumn-winter 1997-98 haute couture collection. On 10 July 1997, the Strasbourg-born designer presented the world with the most expensive piece ever produced in the history of fashion: the Chimera dress. It took a total of two years to bring this mythological creature to life, made of hand-painted scales, feathers and thousands of rhinestones.
On stage, Adriana Karembeu wore it, intriguing with an oversized wing-shaped headdress, to the admiring cries of the audience. Twenty years have passed and the effect it has had has not changed. In 2022, it was notably the main attraction in Paris at the Thierry Mugler, Couturissime exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, retracing the greatest creations of the late artist.
Margiela Couture SS24 – Glass Skin
If there's one thing we have to give Maison Margiela credit for, it's that the label knows how to put on a show. Since its inception, it has unveiled its collections at spectacular events that punctuate fashion weeks. One of the most impressive remains its spring-summer 1996 ready-to-wear collection, which played with anonymity using masks. But recently, its creative director, John Galliano, pulled off a masterstroke by breaking the internet.
In his latest haute couture collection for spring-summer 2024, it wasn't the light and dramatic silhouettes that got people talking, but the models' beauty looks. On 25 January, during Paris Fashion Week, the beauty world was blown away by Pat McGrath's performance. For the show, the British make-up artist took inspiration from the Korean beauty routine, famous for its glowy finishes. But Margiela is synonymous with extravagance, so she took it to the extreme, giving the models porcelain doll complexions.
It didn't take long for the look to go viral on social media. Very quickly, content creators specialising in make-up, and others, rushed to reproduce the artist's work. Combined with outfits straight out of an extraordinary world, the Artisanal collection heralds a future for Margiela that is as grandiose as its many fashion shows.
Chanel FW2019-20 – Tribute to Kaizer
He was a man of taste with a thousand talents: from great couturier to photographer to artistic director known for his grandiose fashion shows. Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away on 19 February 2019 at the age of 85, reigned over the fashion world until his last breath, whether in his own eponymous label or at Fendi and Chanel. The latter paid tribute to him during Paris Fashion Week, presenting his last ready-to-wear women's autumn-winter 2019-2020 fashion show designed for the French fashion house.
In a ski resort setting, covered in fake snow for the event, his muses and models walked the runway with tears in their eyes after a minute's silence. Naturally, the catwalk featured industry professionals such as Cara Delevingne, Kaia Gerber and Claudia Schiffer, who over the years had become dear friends of the man nicknamed ‘the Kaiser of fashion’.
Silhouette after silhouette, each guest was reminded of the strength, genius and meticulousness of the late Lagerfeld's legacy. In other words, much more than a fashion show, it was a moving farewell that will remain forever etched in memories and archives.
An article written by Tom Kuntz, featured in issue 7 of OniriQ magazine.
Translated by Bethszabee Garner
