Can fashion be art? Many legendary designers would argue yes, and, as a result, the runway has often become performance art’s ultimate stage. Though not every runway is imbued with intense metaphorical meaning, a show has the power to create spectacle, push boundaries, and crystallise a moment in fashion history for everyone involved, especially when the circumstances of the performance are so fleeting. (Remember, a show is usually under 15 minutes!)
In honour of this year’s Met Gala exhibition, “Costume Art,” read on for 15 times designers have done just that.
Sunnei, spring 2026 ready-to-wear
While goody bags are a semi-regular occurrence at fashion shows, they’re more likely to contain a perfume sampler than scratch-off cards revealing varying amounts of imaginary currency. Said lotto tickets were all part of Sunnei’s spring 2026 show, where designers Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo—in partnership with Christie’s—turned the art of fashion and commerce on its head, satirising the whole hoopla with a fake auction. (The concept was reminiscent of Imitation of Christ’s fall 2002 runway-cum-auction, which was held at Sotheby’s in New York.) Items “for sale” included the designers themselves, who suddenly announced their departure from the brand online after the show, culminating in a not-so-subtle examination of artistic worth.
Maison Margiela, spring 2024 couture
A runway show rarely becomes as immediately historic as did Maison Margiela’s spring 2024 couture—which also ended up being John Galliano’s final collection for the house. Though the experience lacked explicit stunts, the entire affair was downright theatrical, largely thanks to the hauntingly surrealist garments, porcelain makeup by Pat McGrath, and model Leon Dame’s unforgettable, staggering walk underneath the Pont d’Alexandre III on that dark Parisian evening.
AVAVAV, fall 2024 ready-to-wear
Designer Beate Karlsson has never been one to shy away from runway stunts. In fact, the more press—good or bad—generated for her independent brand, the better. “The internet is the future,” Karlsson told Vogue’s Laird Borrelli-Pearson of her stunts. Fall 2024 was no exception. Planted actors collected trash from the garbage-covered set and threw it at the oncoming models in a kind of “Booo! Tomato!”-meets-medieval-stoning performance of contrition. Naturally, the runway ended with Karlsson herself being pied.
Coperni, spring 2023 ready-to-wear
The modern runway gimmick to end all modern runway gimmicks. Coperni’s Bella Hadid spray-on dress, made from a patented spray-on material called Fabrican, immediately colored the fashion discourse, prompting endless conversations about the value of such stunts in an Instagram-first age, if such an event inevitably overshadows the clothing, and, yes, if clothing can really be art.
Anrealage, spring 2022 ready-to-wear
Always avant-garde and futuristically minded, Anrealage was one of the first fashion brands to blend performance art with the at-the-time new technology of NFTs. Fractal dresses flooded the spring 2022 collection, giving the audience the feeling of watching from an alternate digital world. Designer Kunihiko Morinaga emphasised this avatar aesthetic further, letting guests know that each piece would be available for purchase as NFTs via a bidding platform. “It’s true that there’s no physical object in the NFT world. But in this pandemic situation, it’s become also true that something digital can be something real,” he told Vogue’s Luke Leitch.
Chanel, fall 2014 ready-to-wear
When it comes to showmanship, Karl Lagerfeld still reigns as one of fashion’s supremes. From orchestrating a live rocket launch for fall 2017 to importing ice all the way from Sweden to construct a gigantic glacier for fall 2010, the late designer’s penchant for the extraordinary never wavered. However, one of his most memorable outings is fall 2014, when he transformed the Grand Palais into a near-functional supermarket, complete with signs advertising price increases. The best part? Following Lagerfeld’s finale bow, guests descended on the aisles in an attempt to raid the set. It was an iconic (and knowingly ridiculous) display of fashion frenzy.
Issey Miyake, fall 2012 ready-to-wear
Nothing can impress upon an audience the effectiveness—and coolness—of a new type of fabric like seeing it in action. For designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae’s second womenswear collection at Issey Miyake, he did exactly that. The show opened to spotlights gleaming down on seamstresses steaming bolts of fabric made from new “seam stretch” technology. Before the audience’s eyes, flat, amorphous swaths of fabric transformed into bouncy spring dresses on human bodies. (Such an experience is not unfamiliar to the Issey Miyake fanbase—some may remember Miyamae’s predecessor’s final show for the house where seamstresses live constructed paper garments on models, before models wearing the “real” ones walked the runway behind them.)
Dries Van Noten, spring 2005 ready-to-wear
While dinner and a show may usually refer to a date night out on the town, for designer Dries Van Noten, it was the perfect format to celebrate his 50th runway collection. As reported by Vogue’s Mark Holgate, guests arrived at a “modest little affair: a chandelier-lit dinner for 500 at a cavernous factory on the outskirts of Paris.” At first, a flock of 250 waiters attended to the enraptured guests. Then, following the dinner service, models stomped across the very table upon which they had just eaten.
Alexander McQueen spring 2004, ready-to-wear
Ever the impresario, Alexander McQueen frequently drew from movies—Hitchcock was a favourite—for his runway spectacles. Spring 2004 is perhaps one of his most faithful cinematic recreations. The runway was inspired by the movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, starring Jane Fonda. The film takes place at a dance hall in the Great Depression, where hungry contestants can enter a dance-a-thon in hopes of securing a cash prize. McQueen’s performance mirrored the fever of the movie just so, with the choreography of the models quickly crumbling into chaos.
Imitation of Christ, spring 2002 ready-to-wear
Oh, how the tables turned! For spring 2002, founders Matthew Damhave and Tara Subkoff, and creative director Chloë Sevigny, mixed things up, putting the unnerving spotlight of critique onto the critics themselves. Editors and guests arrived to find their seats filled with models—who were taking notes! The entire experience was set to RuPaul’s Supermodel (You Better Work!) while speakers also blared their own harsh quips.
Chalayan, fall 2000 ready-to-wear
As architectural as it was artistic, Hussein Chalayan’s fall 2000 collection is one of the designer’s most memorable. Set in a sparsely staged living room on the stage of London’s Sadler’s Wells theatre, all seemed normal until models started disassembling the furniture for their own sartorial use. From couch cushions to coffee tables, pieces were utterly transformed in a sheer display of technological ingenuity.
Viktor & Rolf, fall 1999 couture
While dressing models live on stage is now a familiar way of bringing performance art to the runway, it once radically broke down the barriers between the audience and the designer—especially in the realm of couture. Just five years into their career, Dutch designers Rolf Snoeren and Viktor Horsting employed only a single model, Maggie Rizer. She stood like a doll on a rotating platform while increasingly complex dresses were fitted upon her.
Alexander McQueen, spring 1999 ready-to-wear
Whenever prompted to conjure an example of “fashion as performance art,” there’s usually one answer that immediately comes to mind: Shalom Harlow’s unforgettable performance for Alexander McQueen spring 1999. After models walked the runway while dodging two mechanical contraptions, Harlow stood on a rotating platform in nothing but a belted white dress, where the robotic arms then splattered her in paint. For both model and designer, the shocking act was a performance of a lifetime.
Yohji Yamamoto spring 1999, ready-to-wear
There are times when performance art can feel like a subtle act of creation, as exemplified by the master of subtlety, Yohji Yamamoto. For his spring 1999 runway, garments were shed, swapped, and built up all in real time. One couple walked the stage and switched clothing (the skirt in this act was then famously worn by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy), and for the finale, an entire wedding getup was produced from the zippered hems of one model’s bridal hoop skirt.
Thierry Mugler, fall 1995 couture
Sometimes, the best kind of performance art is a full-throttle fun show. Though something as historic as Thierry Mugler’s cyborg suit—famously repurposed by Zendaya on the Dune press tour—can’t hurt either. For his 20th anniversary, the French legend went all-out; the couture runway included a live performance from James Brown and a healthy amount of coordinated latex skirt suits.
