No detail is overlooked at the best fashion shows, and the choices of venues, these days, are as ambitious as the collections they showcase. Brands thrill the throng by commandeering buildings that are normally off limits to mere mortals, creating special installations and transforming disused spaces, with results that are ever more spectacular. Here we take a look at the best.
Fashion week venues S/S 2011: womenswear
Fashion week venues S/S 2011: womenswear
Peter Pilotto and Richard Nicoll staged their shows on a platform of the now defunct Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station - one of the official London Fashion Week venues
Brioni took over La Triennale in Milan. Costumising the space with its signature red, the fashion house gave each attendee one of its 65th anniversary moleskine notebooks, illustrated by Carlo Stanga
The backdrop of the dramatic showspace at Spazio Fendi was made of laser-cut organza, which was dyed to look like it had been scorched. The same technique was applied to garments in the collection
A close-up of the Fendi backdrop
Gucci's own showspace evolves season after season, this time with a rich gold backdrop
The geometric seating and catwalk arrangement at Jil Sander was illuminated by a Thierry Dreyfus-designed installation. Rather than the normal VHIs, Dreyfus used HMI cold blue daylight, which he covered with a frost foil for a diffused, airy glow
As with meanswear, Prada's womenswear show took place on an elevated stage, surrounding by stadium-style seating at Fondazione Prada, designed by OMA and think tank AMO
The illuminated catwalk gave the illusion that the models were walking on water
A ramshackled slipway rose above a thick sea mist at Christian Dior's South Sea inspired show in Espace Ephémère Tuileries
Over in Paris, Dries Van Noten chose the 'naturally rough' surrounds of the riverside basement of the French Fashion Institute
Dries Van Noten
The graphic set for Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci at the Lycée Carnot
A curtain at Halle Freyssinet pulled back to reveal a makeshift arena at the Hèrmes show, around which dressage troupe Cavalcade paraded on horseback, illuminated by St Louis crystal chandeliers
Maison Martin Margiela opted for wholesome, old-school look at Pavillon Concorde, with rustic benches and wooden floors
Show production designer Mathias Wendzinski of Eyesight, clad the interior of the Westin Hotel in mirror for the Roland Mouret show, with lighting designed by Thierry Dreyfus
The minimal white Valentino showspace at Halle Freyssinet.
Photograph by Pablo Arroyo
Illustrator Piet Paris turned the Viktor & Rolf set at Espace Ephémère Tuileries into a life-sized sketchbook, filled with forms and colours that reflected the graphic collection
A close up of Piet Paris' illustrations at Viktor & Rolf
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton's show at Cour Carrée du Louvre was more than a little camp, with giant taxidermied tigers wearing fringe necklaces atop zebra skin carpets. The marble-effect stage was backed by black mirror
Karl Lagerfeld looked to the gardens of the Palace of Versailles for inspiration, filling the Grand Palais with a topiary-style maze of stone pebbles, punctuated by giant fountains
Wunderkind's rig-style installation at Palais de Tokyo
Wunderkind
