The fashion show combines stage design, clothing, performance, light and sound to create a temporary Gesamtkunstwerk. With the exhibition »Catwalk«, the Vitra Design Museum is dedicated to the fashion show as a medium between art and commerce and examines its history from its beginnings around 1900 to the present day.
The catwalk is not only a harbinger of changing fashion trends, fashion shows also repeatedly reflect seismic shifts in the fashion industry as well as societal change: from haute couture to prêt-a-porter, from the era of »supermodels« to the celebration of diversity and variety, from the first live streaming to purely virtual fashion shows.
With unique fashion pieces, film footage and photography, stage props and ephemera, the exhibition revisits groundbreaking fashion shows by Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Helmut Lang, Iris van Herpen, Martin Margiela, Prada, Viktor & Rolf, Yves Saint Laurent and many others.
