How is a top catwalk show put together? What goes on behind the scenes? Through images by some of the world's best fashion photographers, and garments by the world's top fashion designers, Catwalk to Cover - A Front Row Seat explores the glitz and glamour front of house, and the headaches and heartaches backstage. The installation, at London's Fashion and Textile Museum, is curated by the fashion photographer Kirstin Sinclair.
Catwalk shows are a fairly new concept dating from the fashion shows put on by Parisian couture houses during the 19th century. Individual designers have been putting on small shows for years but, in the 1990s, they realised that collectively they would have far greater influence on the fashion scene. In the 21st century, a designer's appearance at one of the many 'fashion weeks' taking place in London, Milan, Paris or New York, might be all that's needed to launch a new career.
Catwalk to Cover – A Front Row Seat
The exhibition is set out in four main sections: Backstage, Front Row, Catwalk and Street Style. The installation showcases over 100 images from the portfolios of four well-known photographers:
- Kirstin Sinclair – Sinclair's work has featured in British Vogue, British Elle, Elle Collections and British Grazia as well as online.
- Matt Lever – Lever, well-known for his sense of humour, has captured many a back-stage drama. His clients include Elle, Harpers Bazaar, L’Oreal, Redken and many others.
- Philip Meech – London-based Philip Meech's background is in press and photojournalism. His clients include Prada, Miu Miu and Gas Jeans. Meech also lectures on photography at the University of Westminster.
- Chris Moore – Moore has more than 40 years experience documenting fashion shows. He is founder of the picture library catwalking.com, and his images have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including The International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, Observer, Times and Independent as well as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar.
Images are shown alongside clothes by the world's leading designers including Prada, Chanel, Luis Vuitton, Lanvin, Anna Sui, Christian Lacroix, Donna Karan, Osman and Vivienne Westwood. The installation offers a fascinating insight into the pandemonium that is an every-day part of the apparently smooth-running catwalk shows shown in magazines and newspapers, on television and online.
Catwalk to Cover... also looks at the audiences – the catwalk watchers, such as Scarlet Johansson, Sarah Jessica Parker and Florence Welch, who have been celebrity guests at some of the most prestigious fashion shows. And, if you've ever wondered what top models wear when not modelling haute couture, this exhibition reveals all! The display also explores the different people who contribute to the success of a fashion show ranging from fashion editors, creative directors, models, make-up artists and hair stylists, to the celebrities, journalists, camera crews and bloggers.
In the long-term it is the photographers, and how they choose to show a designer's work, that influence how catwalk fashions are adapted for the high street.
Catwalk to Cover – A Front Row Seat – Publication
To coincide with the exhibition, ACC Editions have published a fully illustrated book by Kirstin Sinclair, with Foreword by British supermodel, Erin O'Connor. The 300-page hardback publication (ISBN 9781851496617) features 500 colour illustrations and is priced at £29.95
Catwalk to Cover – A Front Row Seat will be open until 25th February 2011. Tickets and further information are available from the Fashion and Textile Museum.
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
