Everyone has a favourite fashion show. Here at the Vogue offices, it’s not unusual for the conversation to turn to fashion shows that we can’t stop thinking about – either because of the clothes, the staging, a special performance, or more often than not, a confluence of all three. We thought we should pose this question to perhaps some of the people best qualified to answer it – fashion designers. The ones who season after season, bring eight minute-long spectacles (or 45 minutes if you’re Thom Browne), that make this job what it is.
We cast a wide net, asking two simple questions: what’s your own favourite runway show, and what’s your favourite show by another designer? Like looking into tea leaves, their answers will surprise and delight you, and in many instances cause you to think, “Oh yeah, this makes perfect sense.” And while there are a couple of designers whose repeated appearances on this list are anything but surprising – Alexander McQueen, Helmut Lang – only three specific collections were mentioned more than once. Scroll through to read all about your favourite fashion designers’ favourite runway shows.
Marc Jacobs
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
It’s hard to pick favourites, but our autumn/winter 2020 show right before the pandemic – the show we did with Karole Armitage – is one that I feel very proud of. I remember saying at the time, “If this was the last show I ever did, I’d be okay with it.”
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
One show I’ll never forget is the Chanel autumn/winter 2018 show Karl Lagerfeld invited me to. I don’t think it was necessarily his all-time best show or all-time best collection, but he didn’t really invite other designers to his shows and I was very honoured to have been invited and attend. Everything he did at Chanel was a favourite.
Glenn Martens, Y-Project
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
Y/PROJECT autumn/winter 2019 at Pitti Uomo. We invited over 7,000 people – anybody who is part of the cultural life of Florence was invited to the show; from the fashion industry, to museums, to schools. The show took place in Santa Maria Novella, the largest monastery complex in Tuscany, and was set to begin at sundown. We handed out tiny little flashlights to every person who attended, and invited them to discover the Italian masterpieces, the frescos, hanging over the basilica and monastery as if they were discovering ancient Florence for the first time, Indiana Jones-style. Only flashlights. The show started two hours later, to make sure everybody had time to wander around. Still in complete darkness, the guests finally gathered in the main courtyard, where they were all obliged to use their flashlights to light up the models – a community working together to actually see the clothes. It was beyond magical to see thousands of mini flashlights lighting up the catwalk.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
Dior’s Madame Butterfly spring/summer 2007 couture by John Galliano, because it was perfection. The days where fashion was all about beauty and not about product and engagements.
Sabato De Sarno, Gucci
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
The most memorable runway show I’ve ever been involved in was my debut with Gucci. It was amazing because it turned out exactly how I pictured it in my head. The best part was working with a completely new team, and their energy and dedication were off the charts. It was the first time I felt such intense emotions in my career, making it an unforgettable experience. That mix of creativity, teamwork and pure excitement will stay with me forever.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
My all-time favourite show by another designer has to be the Atelier Versace autumn/winter 1997 collection. It was the first runway show I ever saw, and I was just 14 years old. It holds a special place in my heart, because it was his last couture show before he was tragically killed a week later. My admiration for him was already immense, and that show solidified it forever. The vibrant energy, bold designs and sheer elegance of that collection left a lasting impact on me. Gianni has always been in my heart, and that moment is etched in my memory as a profound blend of artistry and loss. It inspired my own creative journey, reminding me of the power and emotion fashion can evoke.
Anna Sui
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
I think the most memorable show was spring/summer 1994 with The Trinity wearing the baby dolls. It was such a spontaneous moment when they all stopped on the runway!!!
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
My favourite runway show is from Prada, spring/summer 2008, with the beautiful fairy prints by James Jean and the iconic flower heel and Art Nouveau shoes. The collection was so ethereal and dreamy.
Simone Rocha
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved in?
My most recent haute couture show for Jean Paul Gaultier is still so prominent in my memory and I think will always be… it really was a beautiful, inspiring experience.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
Really hard to say, but I wish I was at these two shows in person: The Alexander McQueen Voss show from spring/summer 2001 – the show with the glass box that shattered to reveal the writer Michelle Olley reclining nude, wearing a mask attached to a breathing tube. I also wish I saw Comme des Garçons’s autumn/winter 2005 show – the broken bride collection. I have always adored the clothes in that show.
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Pieter Mulier, Alaïa
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
The last show we did for Alaïa, because it represented what I think luxury fashion should be.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
It is impossible to say one… there are many:
– Helmut Lang 1994
– Raf Simons spring/summer 1999
– John Galliano autumn/winter 1994
– Alaïa spring/summer 2002
All of these are so important for me personally, because they touched me and made me dream… I could even say changed me.
Tory Burch
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
Our spring/summer 2024 show at the Gilder Center at the American Museum of National History was extraordinary; it felt like being transported to another planet. Jeanne Gang’s ethereal interiors were the perfect backdrop for our retro-futuristic curves and modular tailoring.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
I was lucky enough to attend Yves Saint Laurent’s final couture show in 2002 at the Centre Pompidou. It was the ultimate farewell, revisiting all of his signatures and innovations: le smoking, safari jackets, bias gowns, his homages to Matisse and Lalanne, sheer dresses… It is hard to sum up his remarkable impact. He set trends, broke conventions and reinvented fashion, and himself, countless times. And he always gave women the perfect combination of sensuality and strength.
Marine Serre, Marine Serre
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved in?
The most memorable runway show I’ve ever been involved in was the “Marée Noire” show, held in September 2019. Set outdoors right next to the Auteuil Racecourse, at the very outskirts of Paris, the weather was tense and the elements created a fantastic backdrop that echoed some apocalyptic landscape and climate change. Marée Noire stands for oil spill in English, so it couldn’t be better than to have Mother Nature join the stage. This show carried something post-apocalyptic but also hope for change – we received overwhelmingly positive feedback that made “Marée Noire” a landmark in my career, cementing it as a defining moment where fashion and environmental consciousness intersected powerfully.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
My all-time favourite show by another designer is the Alexander McQueen autumn/winter 2009 “The Horn of Plenty” show. This show was truly groundbreaking, as it was staged a giant junkyard with props littered from previous runway shows. Models wore pieces of broken cars and discarded debris as headpieces, creating a powerful visual critique of consumerism while turning trash into treasures. This approach of reimagining waste and highlighting the excesses of the fashion industry deeply resonated with me and aligns closely with my own approach to fashion. McQueen’s ability to blend striking visuals, with a strong, thought-provoking and meaningful message continues to inspire my work.
Catherine Holstein, Khaite
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved with?
Considering I’ve only been involved with mine, I would say my last show, autumn/winter 2024. I have really enjoyed collaborating with my husband and I feel like he makes me do better.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
I have two that come to mind immediately – John Galliano autumn/winter ’94 because of how it was emotional, dark, moody and intricate, but at the same time totally simplistic. Completely new proportions and cuts, while also feeling nostalgic. A little Japanese, a little Italian, and, of course, Vaudeville. Theatrical. It’s just what makes me love shows and feel totally intoxicated with fashion. It makes all of this desperate striving feel worth it when I see a show like that. And that it was done when he was feeling at a low point, which I just learned in his documentary, is all the more jarring and genius.
The other is Alexander McQueen spring/summer 2001, which was just quite frankly, totally arresting. While the concept was complex and uncomfortable, the show was exquisite. The darkness. The theatre. The beauty at the end. The end! The glass shattering. Unbelievable! You couldn’t do a show like that today. It was so profoundly brave. This is how you get to really know a designer. They show you. They don’t tell you. Magic.
Hillary Taymour, Collina Strada
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved in?
Our spring/summer 2020 collection, “Thank You Very Much for Helping Me”, was one of my most memorable experiences. We were able to shut down an entire block in Manhattan and set up a farmer’s market in the street with the help of Misfits Market. It was all outside and throughout the day people would stop and watch and say hi –it was a really magical experience to get to see first-hand excitement from others outside the fashion industry and be able to include everyone. When the show ended, everyone was able to “shop” the market for free, and everyone did! I wanted an orange, but by the time I got there there was only one onion left for me, lol. Afterwards, in true Collina-community fashion, people were posting all the meals they made with the food they got from our market. It really levelled-up the Collina shows, in my opinion.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
This is a really hard choice, because I love so many shows for various reasons; but Prada spring/summer 2008 comes to mind first. This collection took place in my formative fashion years, and it has been one of my all-time biggest influences as a designer. I love the fairy nymph floral elements, and it also had this huge wallpaper made by James Jean alongside projections that felt very modern. It really just opened my eyes to new possibilities in fashion.
Julien Dossena, Rabanne
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved in?
I think it was the resort 2018 Louis Vuitton by Nicolas Ghesquière cruise show in Kyoto. I was travelling in Japan at that moment, and the vision of Nicolas in the Miho Museum, with all those strong women, and those amazing looks in that very special place… it was a total vision.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
I remember as a kid being shocked in a wonderful way by a Helmut Lang show in the Espace Commines in Paris. It was the one with Amber Valletta in a short skirt contradicted by a long train in the back worn with a simple T-shirt. The music, the excitement of the crowd, the exact modernity of his proposition represents for me the ideal of a moment that is supposed to be a fashion show. I’m still haunted by it.
Patric DiCaprio & Bryn Taubensee, Vaquera
What is the most memorable runway show you’ve ever been involved in?
PDC: My favourite Vaquera show was our autumn/winter 2016 collection, the first collection Bryn and I worked on together. That year was the end of a kind of a golden era of New York fashion where collaboration and creativity were at the forefront of everyone’s process. Things felt so hopeful and exciting then. We staged the show at the infamous China Chalet, a Chinese restaurant and banquet hall often used as a venue for parties. The models made their way through the restaurant interacting with guests seated at the restaurant booths. We told each model to express their own personality: some were smoking cigarettes, some kissed one another, some ran down the runway while others walked slowly and made eye contact with the audience. This show has a special place in my heart, because it felt like the beginning of the Vaquera dialog about joyful subversion.
BT: For me, our autumn/winter 2017 show is the most memorable. It was the first time we were ever on Vogue Runway, and it felt like we’d “really made it,” though looking back, we were so naive back then. The naivety is partially what made the show so good; so little of it was actually wearable or sold, but it was pure expression and passion. There were four of us designing back then – Claire and David were there as well, and I think you really get the sense that there were a lot of points-of-view creating the collection, in a way that made it really dynamic. That collection had two of our most iconic pieces, the Tiffany Bag dress and the American flag dress.
What is your all-time favourite show by another designer?
PDC: My favourite show by another designer is the Undercover spring/summer 2004 collection, which featured a cast of identical twins. The sets of twins walked out together with one wearing a “normal” look while her twin wore a distorted, melted, drooping version of the first one. Plaid suiting melts, lapels and shoulder seams extend off the body, necklines unravel. This collection feels like a reflection on the effects of dysmorphia. The way we perceive others depends on the way we see ourselves and a distorted mirror can play alarming tricks on the eye! This show was a call for empathy and peace. The finale featured models wearing shirts with messages like “Violence invites violence,” “Silly to kill,” and “Who wants to be a soldier.” A distorted understanding of self can lead to disaster. What could be more disastrous than war?