The flashing lights
on the stage, the smooth surface of the runway and the stunning models in beautiful
clothes is what fashion shows are made of. People have always desired to look
their best, making fashion one of the oldest existing businesses. Today there are
countless fashion shows in London, Milan, Paris, America, India and almost
every country in the globe so much so that it has become a common occurrence. But,
the commencement of fashion shows has a vague history. France, one of the prime
places where fashion flourished could be said to be the first ones to start the
tradition of fashion shows. It is hard to narrow down the time or place for the
first ever fashion show but let’s explore history.
Our story begins somewhere in the 1800s, during which time a horde of fashion parades took place in
Fashion saloons; the glitz or glamour was mellow during that time, compared to
what we are used to today. The models, who were called ‘Mannequins’, at that
time, were taught the art of walking and posing in a saloon for onlookers. This
was a way of displaying their collection and the latest trends. In all
technicality it was a fashion show, though the models that time had fuller
figures, but that too changed later on. In fact, depleting of the figure has
been so much that we have size zero now!
In 1903 there was a
resemblance of fashion show in New York City in Ehrlich Brothers boutique. The
events had more of a theatrical flair to them compared to today. The show was
generally organized around a theme which was narrated by someone. A couple of
years later many of the large department stores such as Wanamaker’s and
Philadelphia were also organizing these shows.
The events exhibited couture
gowns from Paris or gowns inspired by Paris fashion. Soon these events were
taking place across New York City. But towards the end of the century,
somewhere around the 1970s and 80s designers started having private shows which
became the start of what would eventually become fashion show.
Nowadays we have fashion
shows running on for weeks all over the world. For this we have some bright
minds in the past to thank who in difficult times, when war was looming bring
with it million of problems along, did not let the art die and found a way to
reach the world. So remember when you see a fashion show next this all started
in some saloon tucked somewhere in France.
