Fashion shows refer to often fantastical events put on by clothing designers and sometimes various press groups to showcase the designer’s new line of clothing for the upcoming seasons. The shows consist of models who walk along a narrow, elevated strip of a platform that is known as a catwalk, and the shows often have live music, wild videos or extravagant light shows. The vast majority of fashion shows are put on during the designated Fashion Weeks for the four major cities for clothing design, in this particular order: New York, London, Milan and Paris. The shows that display clothes for the Autumn/Winter season are showcased January through April and for the Spring/Summer season, they are showcased September through November. Designers must showcase their work in fashion shows that are scheduled months ahead of the designated season in which the clothes should be worn, to give buyers adequate time to stock their shelves and so that customers have enough time to pick up on the trends and purchase the designer’s clothing.
Some contemporary designers or brands (sometimes referred to as “houses” if they are large businesses with significant appeal) have put on fashion shows in secondary fashion capitals like Moscow and Los Angeles that are considered inter-season collections, namely Resort/Cruise, which occurs before Spring/Summer, and Pre-Fall, which occurs before Autumn/Winter. The clothing showcased at these fashion shows are generally more mainstream and commercialized than the designer’s seasonal collections, and they almost never include couture, which includes any unique item developed and created solely by the designer. Couture tends to be more for artistic value than for actual functional clothing and are often shown in a separate feature at the end of the shows after womenswear, menswear, lingerie, wedding and childrenswear have been presented.
Fashion shows known as parades have been popular in Paris since the 1800s, but the first American show was believed to be held in 1903 by the Ehrlich Brothers to showcase their store’s new clothing. As fashion shows gained in popularity throughout the New York area, designers and organizers realized that many of the shows were being put on in rather seedy areas. Since 1993, New York’s Fashion Week has been centralized in Bryant Park for safety and convenience. The purpose of fashion shows has always not only to advertise the designer’s clothing, but also to inform the general public of what the hot trends are. Shows also have their own aesthetic values as they are seen like theatrical events from which audiences should garner a certain theme from the clothing presented combined with the specific walks of the models, the styling of their hair and make-up and the lights, music or videos that may be accompanying them down the catwalk.