Behind the Set

Smythson’s pond-inspired show set really floats our boat

When it came to conceiving his inaugural presentation for Smythson, creative director Luc Goidadin dived in head first. The designer’s ambitious show set was inspired by eccentric English country homes, and featured a festoon of topsy turvy objects, from dining...

Fashion / 22 Jan 2019

Dior's conveyer-belt show set makes a move in the right direction

Movement, energy, speed: the fashion industry is renowned for its sense of pace. Since his appointment as menswear artistic director of Dior, Kim Jones has been sending the Parisian brand into the future, combining haute couture techniques, artistic collaborations and...

Fashion / 17 Jan 2019

Prada's illuminated A/W 2019 show is a real light-bulb moment

There was something spooky going on at Prada’s A/W 2019 catwalk show, one inspired by ghoulish figures like Frankenstein’s monster, The Addams Family’s Lurch and characters from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The uncanny event, held inside the grand hall...

Fashion / 26 Jun 2018

Behind the set: Kim Jones’ erects a Kaws-designed effigy of M. Dior for his catwalk debut

From the toile de Jouy pattern fabrics which nodded to the wallpaper which lined M. Dior’s first boutique, to the men’s version of its signature John Galliano-designed Saddle bag, artistic director Kim Jones infused his debut menswear collection for Dior with...

Fashion / 18 Jun 2018

Behind the set: At Pitti Uomo 94, Paul Surridge presents a rebooted vision for Roberto Cavalli

Creative director Paul Surridge - who arrived at the ostentatious Italian house last year - chose a Carthusian monastery high in the suburbs of Galluzzo to present his debut Roberto Cavalli menswear show at Pitti Uomo in 94 in Florence. Titled...

Fashion / 13 Jun 2018

Behind the set: At Pitti Uomo 94, Herno’s L.I.B.R.A.R.Y exhibition celebrates the brand’s 70-year history

Herno first presented at Pitti Uomo in 1971, and last night, the Italian label chose the platform’s 94th iteration as the location for celebrating its illustrious 70-year anniversary. The label is renowned for its innovative approach to outdoors wear (think...

Fashion / 28 Feb 2018

Dior’s collage-inspired A/W 2018 show set is a real sticking point

In recent years, Maria Grazia Chiuri has covered Dior’s show set at the Musée Rodin with twinkling shards of mosaic and graphic strips of mirror. For A/W 2018, the artistic director took a more cut-and-paste approach, covering its exterior and...

Fashion / 26 Feb 2018

Prada’s neon sign A/W 2018 show set is a real glow-getter

Miuccia Prada held her brand’s A/W 2018 runway show over several floors of the new Rem Koolhaas-designed extension of the Prada Foundation in Milan. As usual, the designer teamed up with AMO (the research arm of Rem Koolhaas’ OMA studio), on a...

Fashion / 12 Feb 2018

Behind the set: Philipp Plein’s A/W 2018 space odyssey

Philipp Plein doesn’t do catwalk shows by halves. The extravagant German designer has created gritty sets populated with wrecked cars, fashioned a runway space boasting an Olympic-size swimming pool and even erected a boxing ring for his band of sports-luxe...

Fashion / 12 Feb 2018

Behind the set: Bottega Veneta works the room for its A/W 2018 show in New York

Bottega Veneta’s creative director Tomas Maier was feeling house-proud for the label’s A/W 2018 catwalk show. In celebration of the Italian brand’s newly opened apartment-inspired boutique on New York’s Madison Avenue, its menswear and womenswear offerings were staged at the...

Fashion / 22 Jan 2018

Behind the set: Kris Van Assche's light-bulb moment at Dior Homme A/W 2018

Kris Van Assche has a fascination with fairground aesthetics. For Dior Homme’s S/S 2017 runway set, the creative director fashioned a multicoloured looping rollercoaster, which dipped and swirled around the catwalk. For his A/W 2018 show for the house, Van Assche...

Fashion / 18 Jan 2018

Behind the set: Prada creates a crate-stacked warehouse for its A/W 2018 menswear show

Prada eschewed its usual showspace location at the brand’s Milan HQ, for a more industrially-inclined warehouse space on Viale Ortles. Guests entered a show space stacked floor to ceiling with wooden crates and lined with a corrugated metal catwalk. The ‘Prada...