Louis Vuitton, A/W 2010

Fashion week every year appears to become a larger and larger production, and it’s fantastic. It solidifies branding and the lifestyle attached to it, and it allows the shows to be more than just fashion by engaging the audience through incredible and elaborate sets and stages. The creative artistic direction has the ability to transport the audience to other-worldly realms, and isn’t that what fashion is about anyhow, the fantasy of it all. For the lucky few that get to attend these fantasies, they are an actual reality, but only for a snippet of time, leaving all of us on-lookers wanting more. But, who is behind the curtain? Usually it’s the designer’s/ artistic director’s concept, but who actually conceives and formulates it?

The circle of fashion show producers and set designers is a small one. Karl Lagerlfeld we know usually dreams hits sets, but it’s Etienne Russo of Villa Eugénie who  develops them, along with the worlds of Hermes, Lanvin, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dries Van Noten, Maison Martin Margiela, just to name a few. Set designer and artistic director Michael Howells does the fashion shows of Christian Dior, Galliano’s own label, and previously worked for Alexander McQueen. Architect Rem Koolhaas’ OMA firm exclusively has been consistently designing the shows for Prada (How An Architect Does Runway). But it’s the mysterious Parisian event company La Mode en Images founded by Olivier Massart that has consistently established itself as the go-to for the design houses for fashion week production. The client roster includes heavy hitters such as: Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Balmain, Valentino, Nina Ricci, Balenciaga, YSL and many many more. Consistently I’ve been impressed by the YSL shows, always a favorite. Butm unfortunately there’s not a lot of info on the company, but visit La Mode en Images to see their extensive portfolios of fashion shows and events.

Yves Saint Laurent, A/W 08/09

Nina Ricci, A/W 07/08

Photos via: Wallpaper* + La Mode En Images