It wasn’t just the collections that gained column inches during AW19 Fashion Month as designers competed to create the most striking backdrops for their runway shows.
Paris Fashion Week was of course marked by the passing of Chanel’s maverick creative director Karl Lagerfeld and his final show at the Grand Palais was a fitting spectacle, conjuring a snow-covered Alpine town.
Elsewhere, designers created a ‘museum within a museum’, nightclubs and an ethereal forest. Here are our favourite AW19 sets from New York, London, Milan and Paris.
Deveaux New York at Ideal Glass Pop Up, New York
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Tommy Ton’s first Deveaux catwalk was an exercise in restraint. The show took place inside the raw Ideal Glass Pop Up warehouse space and revolved around a grand piano. Models ranging from 13-82 walked down a runway to a score by composer Henri Scars Struck and choreography by Stephen Galloway.
Roksanda at the Old Selfridges Hotel, London
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Art collective Troika created a kaleidoscopic backdrop for fashion designer Roksanda Ilinčić inside the Old Selfridges Hotel, drenching her runaway in colours with the help of large photographic foils that cast rainbows of light. Get a closer look.
Burberry at Tate Modern, London
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Ricardo Tisci erected a twin set inside the Tate Modern’s tanks for his second Burberry show. Half the guests were seated in a specially constructed wood-panelled space that recalled the midcentury vibe of nearby Royal Festival Hall. Others were seated around a raw set encircled by scaffolding and ladders.
Gucci, Gucci Hub, Milan
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Gucci’s Alessandro Michele put on a dazzling display at the Italian fashion house’s Milan hub, installing 120,000 LED lights along a 100-metre-long reflective runway.
Moncler at Magazzini Raccordati, Milan
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‘I was thinking about Girl Guides protecting themselves against nature, the idea of camping and tents almost becomes their protection,’ designer Simone Rocha told Vogue of her ready-to-wear collection. Models in puffer capes picked their way through an ethereal forest of silver birch trees.
The Attico at Garage Traversi, Milan
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Giuseppe De Min’s Garage Traversi served as the industrial backdrop for The Attico’s A/W19 collection, created by fashion duo Giorgia Tordini and Gilda Ambrosio. The 1930s landmark was hung with oversized photographs as models decked in vibrant hues perched on the bonnets of vintage cars.
Jacquemus, Paris Event Center, Paris
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Till Duca, Samuel Begis and Bureau Betak recreated a sleepy French village for the backdrop of Simon Porte Jacquemus’ runway show, complete with a grocery store and florist. Washing lines, laden with brightly coloured Jacquemus designs, were strung from the windows of apartments as models strutted along the street below.
Louis Vuitton at the Louvre Museum, Paris
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Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière collaborated with production company La Mode en Images to build a ‘museum within a museum’ for the French fashion label’s AW19 runway show. They turned a room inside the Louvre into a section of the Pompidou Centre. See more.
Dior at the Rodin Museum, Paris
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Maria Grazia Chiuri turned to artist Tomaso Binga, aka Bianca Pucciarelli Menna, for its grid-like runway inside the Musée Rodin. Nude photographs of the artist in letter-like poses hung on the walls, spelling out a poem by Binga.
Saint Laurent at Fontaine du Trocadero, Paris
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Anthony Vaccarello enlisted production design maestro Alexandre de Betak to recreate the dark atmosphere of a 1980s disco club, complete with UV lights. They set models’ shoes, dresses and sunglasses aglow. Take a closer look.
Miu Miu at Palais D’Iena, Paris
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Stacked television sets, video screens and photographs lined the darkened runway of Miuccia Prada’s Miu Miu show. London-based artist Sharna Osborne created the moody backdrop, with screens blinking between moving images and stills of Miu Miu muses.
Dries Van Noten at Palais de Tokyo, Paris
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For his AW19 show, Belgian fashion designer Dries van Noten headed underground at the Palais de Tokyo, co-opting its industrial-looking subterranean belly. As each model entered the minimally altered, darkened space, lights flickered to reveal their silhouettes to dramatic effect.
Thom Browne, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
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Thom Browne revisited the concept behind his iconic debut Pitti Uomo set for his AW19 show in Paris, creating an office inside a glass box at the city’s Beaux-Ars de Paris. A row of desks – complete with vintage Olivetti Lettera typewriters, lamps, coat racks and framed portraits of Una Troubridge – was set in the middle, with ‘workers’ going about their everyday routines.
Chanel at the Grand Palais, Paris
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The fashion world was rocked by the passing of Karl Lagerfeld last month and his posthumous AW19 runway show was marked by a moment of silence. Lagerfeld was known for his theatrical backdrops – fitting then his final collection should be presented in the immersive and elaborate world of an Alpine ski village. Cosy chalets and snow-capped mountains sat beneath the Grand Palais’ domed ceiling.
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