The fashion show has undergone an extraordinary transformation in the last 75 years. What began as a niche, slightly more glamorous version of a tradeshow has evolved into an entertainment juggernaut that touches every aspect of pop culture. In this video, Vogue charts the history of the front row, from the private salons of the 1950s attended by society women through to ’80s when the seeds for our modern-day celebrity-mad culture began to take roots, before fully exploding in the ’90s and the 2000s with the advent of MTV, Fashion Television, and, of course, the internet.
The World Wide Web was responsible for the introduction of new characters into the front-row ecosystem—bloggers and influencers—but it was also the tool that allowed for the so-called “democratization of fashion,” allowing millions of people around the world to tune into runway shows from their computers or phones, and enjoy access to the latest collections at the same time as the most important fashion editors and personalities. It was also what allowed the community to come together and find each other at the beginning of the 2020s when the pandemic kept everyone at home. What secrets of our world will the front row reveal next?
“Vogue: Inventing the Runway,” an immersive new exhibition exploring the history of the modern runway show, is now open at Lightroom in London. Tickets are available here.
Director: Catherine Orchard
Editors: Evan Allan, Ryan Jeffrey
Producers: Rahel Gebreyes, Bety Dereje
Archival Researcher: Lilli Karkowski
Writer: Laia Garcia-Furtado
Associate Producer: Marisah Yazbek
Creative Production Coordinator: Anisa Kennar
Production Coordinators: Ava Kashar, Tanía Jones
Production Manager: Natasha Soto-Albors
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Senior Director, Production Management: Jessica Schier
Assistant Editors: Fynn Lithgow, Justin Symonds
Post Production Coordinator: Scout Alter
Art & Graphics Lead: Léa Kichler
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Associate Director, Post Production: Nicholas Ascanio
Director, Content Production: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri
Footage Courtesy of Video Fashion
Image Courtesy of Steven Meisel
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