Vogue: Inventing the Runway at Lightroom King’s Cross

In the modern-looking area of King’s Cross, Lightroom stands as a modern living exhibition. The heart of the building is a room, literally, of four video walls plus a digital floor that brings to life adult-size the various subjects currently on display. After David Hockney artworks and a journey to the Moon with Tom Hanks voice-over, the new show invites visitors to sit front row for an immersion into the history of catwalks. Diving into the Vogue archive, the experience draws original sketches, commentaries from the magazine’s leading editors and enthralling footage of runways dating from the early fashion films to this year’s broadcasts. Running in a continuous loop of roughly 50 minutes without an exact beginning or end, the exhibition explores various elements that make a fashion show, now examining its evolution, now highlighting the milestones of its key figures.

“On location” showcases how haute couture moved from Paris for stints abroad after the Second World War. Christian Dior in England, and Balmain in New York were some of the earliest major designers bringing high fashion runways to another country, even continent. There’s then a breathtaking segment of some of the most spectacular settings of the new century with Lagerfeld bringing the Fendi catwalk onto the Great Wall of China in 2007, Dolce and Gabbana 2017 in Sicily’s Valle dei Templi. Fashion touches extreme levels, is true, but it also tries to ground itself with the ordinary, such as the presentation of Martine Rose’s summer 2019 collection in the streets of Camden Town, with international editors sitting next to local residents.

A chapter somehow akin is “story and spectacle” considering, in the words of one of Vogue’s commentators, how “the quest to stand out has created spectacle”. Essential names in this transformation were John Galliano, with his foundational experience as a dresser at the National Theatre, and Alexander McQueen, whose “Voss” collection for Spring/Summer 2001 went down in history for the models’ performances.

The democratisation of fashion shows passed through the Internet, with style.com to be the first website to upload full looks online for people everywhere in the world to admire the latest trends. Exactly like any other staged shows, the greatest artists cherish the live moment, as in making the audience (the people present in body and mind) part of it, enjoying the grandiose real-time act. Karl Lagerfeld’s output is of course once again projected on the big screen, recalling his time at Chanel, with the catwalks arranged at the Grand Palais in Paris, every installation recreating a new Chanel universe. Another landmark event was the 2023 debut Paris catwalk for Pharrell Williams collaborating with Louis Vuitton: when haute couture and pop worlds started to collide. Emblematically, Williams’s premiere was the first after the death of the fashion house’s previous creative director, Virgil Abloh, a towering figure who defined a breaking point with the all-white standards of the past, debuting with a menswear collection in 2019 blending sportswear into luxury clothing and worn by black models, the advent of a more inclusive industry.

It’s clear the intention is to crossover prominent brands and iconic characters with some of the less known (and yet equally revolutionary) names, together with a small dip in the past before the 21^st century. However, the disproportion is still very evident, a pity considering how extensive the Vogue archives must be and the full breadth such an insight could have had. As for the immersive aspect, the entirety of the (light)room could have been used for a more enveloping effect other than the gigantic displays. Although not as pioneering as some of the featured events, Vogue: Inventing the Runway provides a vibrant overview of the creation of a Fashion Show, with a capital S.

Cristiana Ferrauti
Photo: Jacquemus Spring 2020, Justin Sutcliffe for Lightroom

Vogue: Inventing the Runway is at from 13^th November 2024 until 26^th April 2025. For further information or to book visit the exhibition’s website here.