As fashion critic Tim Blank said in a recap of the recent S/S 2025 ready-to-wear shows: ‘You can never underestimate the power of a soundtrack in a fashion show.’ It’s no longer enough to stage a show of sellable looks set to a soundtrack that matches the designer’s particular vibe that season – because fashion is no longer a ten-minute-plus spectacle for a fabled few on the invite list. Shows used to be disseminated to the masses through flat runway images by the swarming pit of photographers poised at the end of the runway, their camera shutters clicking like insects, but times have changed.
Technology has democratised fashion, enabling anyone with a steady internet connection to watch and rewatch the shows – or, at least, see clips of shows spread across social media. Fashion is now live-streamed, archived, and remastered; the avalanche of runway shows staged throughout the year are now trapped in time like fossils encased in amber. The industry has come a long way since the ‘mannequin parades’ staged by British fashion designer (and future Titanic survivor) Lady Duff Gordon in the early 1900s. Those early, theatrically inspired performances, which featured professional models, mood lighting, and string music, feel quaint in comparison, as stars like Rosalía or Riley Keough now perform at shows that seem to have the budget of small countries.
