As the first full moon of the year reflected on the rain-soaked pavements of Paris, the scene was set for one of the most memorable fashion moments of the decade. John Galliano was about to close the SS24 couture season with an era-defining Maison Margiela Artisanal show. It not only demonstrated his sublime talent but also transcended catwalk conventions, taking the idea of a fashion show as far into the realm of performance art as possible. More than a collection, it was a manifesto for the importance of creativity and self-expression, coming as it did in a season where real clothes and straightforward presentations took precedence over soaring fantasy.
A secret doorway under the Pont Alexandre III bridge became a portal to Galliano’s alternative universe: a seedy, turn-of-the-century Parisian speakeasy strewn with the detritus of a riotous party. A cast of demi-monde characters that evoked a gas-lit era of bygone bohemia and deadly decadence strutted, scuttled, preened and posed their way through the venue under the genius movement direction of Pat Boguslawski. Models wore extreme hourglass silhouettes with padded hips, their waists acutely cinched by corsets, with merkins (pubic wigs) clearly visible beneath some sheer, bias-cut gowns. Their faces were painted by Pat McGrath to look like porcelain dolls, with hair piled into a fin de siècle frizz on top of their heads by Duffy; WWD described it as a Toulouse-Lautrec painting come to life.
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Galliano had unleashed something – an energy so pure in its creative expression, so shocking (haute pubes!) that it took your breath away. The commitment to craft and the desire to produce moments that provoked an emotional response marked a significant vibe shift away from spreadsheets and It bags, shareholders and global growth plans. At a moment when the industry feels more commercially driven than ever, Galliano offered a tantalising alternative: here was an invitation to dream.
The appeal felt particularly poignant against the current backdrop: trust in politics and the goodness of human nature is at a low; women’s rights are being rolled back; hate speech is on the rise. This immersive show offered a glimmer of hope. When ugliness and conformity reign, there is something brave in daring to believe in beauty and celebrating an alternative life in which the outsider is the hero.
A few weeks later, at Paris Fashion Week, Balenciaga’s Demna challenged showgoers to consider the role played by artistry and imagination within the fashion industry today. ‘What seems truly rare and finite right now is actually creativity itself,’ he said in a voice note sent out before his AW24 show. ‘I believe that creativity has secretly become a new form of luxury.’ He then set out to prove his point with a fully immersive catwalk experience, where the entire show space –floor, walls, ceiling – became a screen for a cacophony of AI-generated imagery, while the clothes wittily transformed everyday items such as bras and three-pack vests into grand creations. It was a masterpiece of staging, using the visual overload of AI-driven content to comment on relentless consumerism and demonstrate Demna’s antidote.
It’s not just megabrands with deep pockets that can cut through the noise. My stand-out AW24 show was Dilara Fındıkoğlu. Put together on a shoestring budget and staged in a disused church in Shoreditch, it was a visceral howl at the moon against toxic masculinity and a paean to the power of the feminine. With movement direction by Boguslawski (he of Margiela couture fame), the models inhabited their looks and owned their sexuality. You felt their power – and that was the point.
Alexander McQueen understood this, and it’s why his work still resonates today. ‘I know I’m provocative. You don’t have to like it, but you have to acknowledge it,’ he said. His shows always took you on a journey of the imagination – with darkness and light, wonder and shock equally present. He proved that beauty without the darkness is meaningless, and he also reflected the issues of the day back onto the audience, using the catwalk as a platform for discovery and discourse.
I remember Shalom Harlow being sprayed by robots for SS99 and, in that same show, amputee model Amiee Mullins walking on exquisitely carved prosthetic legs – the first time I’d seen a disabled model on the runway. Plato’s Atlantis, his internet-breaking spring/summer 2010 collection (the final catwalk presentation before his death), prophesied fashion’s digital era: it was the first to be live-streamed, but the clamour to hear Lady Gaga’s exclusive soundtrack crashed the feed. With its theme of a future world in which ice caps would melt and humanity would need to evolve in order to survive, it also spoke to the climate emergency.
With their imaginative staging and glorious clothes, McQueen’s shows were at once an escape from reality (armadillo shoes; dresses with gills) and a reflection of our times – the good, the bad and the ugly. He knew that fashion is at its most potent and powerful when it is about something.
One of the most profound catwalk moments I experienced was the Hussein Chalayan show in 2000, where a coffee table ingeniously transformed into a skirt. I’ll never forget the sense of wonder when the model clipped it onto her belt and elegantly walked away. How did he do that? And why? Chalayan, a British-Cypriot designer who immigrated to the UK, was exploring migration and the idea of being able to take only what you could carry. It didn’t make me want to wear a table, but it did inspire me to buy Chalayan’s more accessible pieces, because I wanted to feel part of a brand that was so intellectually and visually stimulating.
That same urge exists today. Expect to see more Maison Margiela Tabi boots and Pat McGrath make-up palettes sold than ever before, as fans show their allegiance to the idea of the catwalk as a springboard to explore the joy of losing and finding yourself in fashion.
It’s often dismissed as an art form, but Galliano, Fındıkoğlu, Demna and Chalayan showed that fashion can communicate complex emotions and nuanced messages; that it can be a medium for many forms of creativity, bringing together different genres of art and craft and galvanising a creative community around a moment and a look. If the industry at its most basic is about persuading us to buy things we don’t need, these shows had added value. Fashion can be a carnival of creativity and a celebration of the imagination. That kind of freedom is life-affirming.
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