Vitra Design Museum
Until February 15, 2026

They last barely 15 minutes, yet their images are seen around the world: fashion shows are media spectacles, social rituals, and style-defining statements. With the exhibition “Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show,” the Vitra Design Museum is dedicating a major show to the phenomenon of fashion shows. The exhibition explores the history and cultural significance of the fashion show from its early forms around 1900 to the present day and brings together fashion houses such as Azzedine Alaïa, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Maison Martin Margiela, Prada, Viktor & Rolf, Louis Vuitton, Yohji Yamamoto, and many others. Original collection pieces, film and photographic material, stage objects, and show invitations animate over 100 years of fashion history on the catwalk.

The exhibition focuses on the fashion show as a Gesamtkunstwerk. What began as an intimate presentation in Parisian salons has evolved into a global event where architecture, scenography, choreography, lighting, sound, and props merge into a multi-layered narrative space. The exhibition is arranged in four rooms designed to reflect the style of their respective eras, tracing the central stages of the fashion show, from the elite couture salon to experimental prêt-à-porter formats, from the classic catwalk to contemporary digital performances. It becomes clear that fashion shows always reflect body ideals and social change, prompting questions about the motives behind them. What myths, values, and dreams are being negotiated? What stories are being told and what power structures are depicted? What does a fashion show reveal about the collection on display and about the era in which it was created?

Accompanying the exhibition is a richly illustrated catalogue designed as an A–Z of the fashion show, featuring contributions from model Małgosia Bela, sound supervisor Michel Gaubert, buyer Andreas Murkudis, and experts including Caroline Evans, Cathy Horyn, and Valerie Steele.

https://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailpages/catwalk.html

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