There’s been a nostalgic bent to fashion-themed culture this year. The New Look, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Becoming Karl Lagerfeld brought the salons of Christian Dior, the King of Fashion, and Kaiser Karl to life, while London exhibitions variously repositioned John Singer Sargent as the world’s first stylist, studied Bárbara Hulanicki’s blockbuster Biba in the ’60s, and reflected on the history of fashion photography from Peter Lindbergh to Paolo Roversi. That’s before mentioning In Vogue: The ’90s on Disney+, which recaptured the decade that transformed the industry.
Nothing has ranged over 100 years of fashion quite like Vogue: Inventing the Runway, though, which traces the history of the catwalk from Charles Frederick Worth’s haute couture ateliers through to the livestream age. Theatre doyen and Lightroom founder Nicholas Hytner addressed the crowd assembled for the premiere of Inventing the Runway in King’s Cross on Thursday night, flanked by Anna Wintour, Mark Guiducci, Chioma Nnadi and Cate Blanchett, who narrates the 50-minute exhibition. “A year or so ago, Anna and Mark came to see our David Hockney show before it had opened to the public, and as a result of that this collaboration happened,” he said. “It’s been an exciting and very creative experience for us to join with them in exploring a world that we knew very little about.”
Those gathered in N1 included designers who have made the runway their own in recent years, from Tom Ford to Daniel Lee, Jonathan Anderson to Haider Ackermann. Then, of course, there were the models – led by It-Brits ranging from Rosemary Ferguson, a fixture on the runways of Cool Britannia, to Giselle Norman, a regular at Lagerfeld’s extravaganzas in the Grand Palais – both of whom were excited for a trip down memory lane.
The evening began at 7pm, with vodka sours and spicy margaritas in the Lightroom atrium. Circulating in the cavernous space, which had been filled with white wax flower arrangements for the occasion: trays of pea and feta tarts with za’atar honey, seared beef fillet, and cheddar sable with poached pear and radicchio courtesy of London institution Ottolenghi. Guests shared their memories of the shows brought back to life in Inventing the Runway – from the mirrored cube of Alexander McQueen’s Voss to the lavender fields of Jacquemus’s SS20 offering – before heading down to take in the spectacle in Lightroom’s immersive space.
“It’s rare in fashion that we have the opportunity to look back,” Laura Ingham, deputy director of the Global Fashion Network, mused afterwards, as everyone headed back upstairs for more champagne toasts. “Our focus is almost always forward-facing: analysing and reviewing the season ahead, discussing the mood and trends that will shape what’s next – so to have the chance to reflect on the fashion shows that have impacted us all has been amazing. I was there when Demna presented his apocalyptic AW20 show on the outskirts of Paris, with models coming down a flooded runway and deafening hardcore trance playing. Inventing the Runway completely transported me back to that moment in time – the same uncomfortable feeling, my hair standing on end with intensity – but a little closer to home.”
