Catwalk History

Beginning in late nineteenth-century Paris, models paraded through haute couture salons wearing exquisite creations, while seated customers selected ensembles to order. Soon, models were walking runways at charity events and department stores all over Europe and the United States. Arnaud’s archive reveals the fashion world’s transformation in the late twentieth century: the burgeoning ready-to-wear industry, the diminishing haute couture clientele, and the ascendency of fashion shows, repurposed into headline-grabbing theatrical spectacles. This short history of the modern runway show uses photos from the Michel Arnaud Fashion Photography Archive. The slideshow was featured in the FIDM Museum's 2018 exhibition Capturing the Catwalk.