The Most Impactful Shows of the Century So Far (Readers' Choice)

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Most Impactful Shows of the Century So Far (Readers' Choice)"

The Run-Through with Vogue, hosted by Vogue editors and creatives, delves into the pinnacle of fashion over the past quarter-century in a special episode titled "The Most Impactful Shows of the Century So Far (Readers' Choice)." Released on January 14, 2025, this edition compiles the top 25 fashion shows as selected by Vogue Runway editors and their readership from an initial list of 50. The discussion features Nicole Phelps, Virginia Smith, Mark Guiducci, and Laird Borelli Pearson, who dissect each show’s significance, innovative elements, and lasting influence on the fashion industry.

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Overview of the Selection Process

The episode begins with Nicole Phelps introducing the project, highlighting the collaborative effort between Vogue Runway editors and readers to identify the most influential fashion shows of the last 25 years. The shows are ranked from 25 to 1, presented in chronological order to showcase the evolution of fashion trends and presentations over time.

Highlighted Fashion Shows

1. Hussein Chalayan’s Fall 2000 Show [03:16]

   • Impact: Celebrated for its avant-garde approach, where models transformed slipcovers into dresses, symbolizing adaptability and innovation.
   • Notable Quote: Mark Guiducci reflects, “The idea of spectacle is what remains,” emphasizing the show’s memorable and thought-provoking presentation. ([03:39])

2. Junia Watanabe’s Fall 2000 Show [04:49]

   • Impact: Known for its impeccable craftsmanship and the introduction of "Techno Couture," blending technology with traditional craftsmanship.
   • Notable Quote: Chloe Mal praises the show’s organic shapes, stating, “They are very gentle. They’re organic shapes that float around the body, sort of like you're being caressed by wings.” ([04:56])

3. Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton Spring 2001 [06:03]

   • Impact: Revolutionized collaborations in fashion by partnering with artist Stephen Sprouse to graffiti Vuitton’s classic monogram, blending art with luxury fashion.
   • Notable Quote: Laird Borelli Pearson recalls, “Those speedy bags with sprays on them were so phenomenal,” highlighting the show's trendsetting accessories. ([06:35])

4. Dries van Noten’s Spring 2005 Show [08:24]

   • Impact: Marked Dries van Noten’s 50th anniversary with a candlelit dinner transforming into a runway, showcasing his mastery in blending intimate settings with high fashion.
   • Notable Quote: Laird Borelli Pearson shares, “I have never missed a Dries van Noten show since,” underscoring the show’s emotional and professional significance. ([08:45])

5. Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2010 Show [12:41]

   • Impact: McQueen’s final runway before his untimely death, noted for its innovative use of robotic arms and liquid-patterned dresses inspired by underwater themes.
   • Notable Quote: Chloe Mal remarks, “The prints are technical prints... they also look like butterfly wings,” highlighting the intricate design elements. ([15:17])

6. Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda Show [16:24]

   • Impact: Pioneered the trend of hosting exclusive shows in picturesque locations, enhancing client experiences and setting a new standard for high fashion presentations.
   • Notable Quote: Laird Borelli Pearson describes the clientele, saying, “I have never in my life seen anything quite like that.” ([17:00])

7. Christian Dior’s Fall 2012 Show by Raf Simons [18:45]

   • Impact: Raf Simons reinvigorated Dior by merging the house’s classic elegance with modern elements like cigarette pants and peplum tops, symbolizing a harmonious blend of past and present.
   • Notable Quote: Mark Guiducci praises the show’s balance, stating, “He really nailed that past and present things.” ([20:04])

8. Chanel’s Supermarket Show by Karl Lagerfeld [21:04]

   • Impact: A satirical take on consumerism, transforming a supermarket into a fashion runway filled with Chanel-branded everyday items, blending humor with luxury branding.
   • Notable Quote: Mark Guiducci highlights the show's irony, noting, “It was just one big laugh to see from afar.” ([22:35])

9. Miu Miu’s Spring 2022 Show [35:03]

   • Impact: Heralded as a rebirth post-pandemic, the collection featured innovative designs like sliced sweaters and miniskirts, reigniting interest in the brand and influencing contemporary fashion trends.
   • Notable Quote: Chloe Mal states, “I think it really started this incredible era of influence from Miu Miu.” ([35:03])

10. Maison Margiela’s Final Couture Show by John Galliano [40:08]

    • Impact: Voted as the most impactful show, Galliano’s final couture presentation was a vibrant protest against subdued luxury, celebrating creativity and individuality with a narrative spectacle.
    • Notable Quote: Mark Guiducci describes the cultural resonance, “It was really like a protest against quiet luxury,” emphasizing its broader significance. ([40:11])

Key Themes and Insights

• Innovation through Technology and Craftsmanship: Many of the selected shows, such as Junia Watanabe’s "Techno Couture" and Hussein Chalayan’s transformative designs, highlight the seamless integration of technology with traditional fashion craftsmanship.

• Collaborations and Artistic Integrations: Marc Jacobs’ collaboration with Stephen Sprouse and Virgil Abloh’s debut for Louis Vuitton illustrate the powerful synergy between fashion designers and artists, setting new trends and expanding creative horizons.

• Emotional and Personal Narratives: Shows like Dries van Noten’s 50th-anniversary presentation and Alexander McQueen’s final collection underscore the importance of personal storytelling and emotional depth in fashion presentations.

• Challenging and Redefining Consumerism: Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel supermarket show serves as a critique of consumer culture, using humor and irony to make profound statements about luxury branding and consumer behavior.

• Post-Pandemic Rebirth and Inclusivity: Miu Miu’s Spring 2022 collection reflects the industry’s resilience and adaptability, introducing fresh designs that resonate with a diverse and evolving audience.

Conclusion and Future Outlook

The episode concludes with gratitude toward the Vogue app readers for their contributions and hints at a forthcoming part two, which will feature the editors' personal favorite shows. The discussions throughout the episode not only celebrate the creativity and innovation of these fashion shows but also reflect on their enduring impact on both the industry and broader cultural narratives.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Mark Guiducci [03:39]: “The idea of spectacle is what remains.”

• Chloe Mal [04:56]: “They are very gentle. They’re organic shapes that float around the body, sort of like you're being caressed by wings.”

• Laird Borelli Pearson [06:35]: “Those speedy bags with sprays on them were so phenomenal.”

• Laird Borelli Pearson [08:45]: “I have never missed a Dries van Noten show since.”

• Chloe Mal [15:17]: “The prints are technical prints... they also look like butterfly wings.”

• Mark Guiducci [22:35]: “It was just one big laugh to see from afar.”

• Chloe Mal [35:03]: “I think it really started this incredible era of influence from Miu Miu.”

• Mark Guiducci [40:11]: “It was really like a protest against quiet luxury.”

This comprehensive exploration not only honors the most impactful fashion shows as chosen by Vogue’s discerning audience but also provides listeners with rich insights into what makes a fashion show truly memorable and influential.

Transcript

[Chloe Mal]

Chloe.

[Chamma Nadi]

I'm Chloe Mal.

[Nicole Phelps]

And I'm Chamma Nadi.

[Chamma Nadi]

And we have some exciting news to share. We want to hear from you. Do you have a question that you've always wanted to ask a Vogue editor or a co host of the Run through?

[Nicole Phelps]

Maybe you want to know where to shop for good jeans?

[Chamma Nadi]

Or a question I'm asked all the time is can you really borrow clothes from the Vogue closet? No.

[Nicole Phelps]

Or you would be good at this question about throwing a party and hosting a party. I think you're such a good host.

[Chamma Nadi]

Oh, well, thank you so much. Yeah. See, you can ask us anything. Please send an email to therunthroughoque.com and if we like your question, we just might answer it on the podcast in a few weeks.

[Nicole Phelps]

I don't know anything, but maybe.

[Virginia Smith]

Well, they can write anything.

[Chamma Nadi]

They just won't like it. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy.

[Virginia Smith]

I'm Nicole Phelps. Welcome to a special edition of the Run Through. All through the month of December, Vogue Runway editors broke down the major trends of the last 25 years in fashion. We did a year a day. You can find it all on the site and the app. To cap it off, we asked our readers that means you to weigh in on the most impactful shows of the last quarter century. Today, we are sharing the results with you. We are going over the top 25 that you have chosen from a list of 50, and we've conveniently arranged them in chronological order. I am joined by Virginia Smith, Mark Guiducci, and Laird Borelli Pearson.

[Mark Guiducci]

Hi, Nicole.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Hi, Nicole.

[Chloe Mal]

Hey. Hey.

[Virginia Smith]

How excited are you to do this?

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I'm very excited. I mean, we were talking, Nicole and I think we were in my office trying to figure out these shows for several days on which ones we thought would be best. So it was really interesting to see how the readers responded to the top 50 shows and see their selections.

[Virginia Smith]

Laird, what about you? You and I worked hard on those on that list, too.

[Chloe Mal]

Yeah, I mean, it was kind of like a deja vu for our [e-mail], so I was personally thrilled to some really early shows from 2000 on the list and saw that they stood the test of time because I do think they are spectacular.

[Mark Guiducci]

You say the word spectacular I think what we're gonna see is that the idea of spectacle, in one way or another, whether it's the clothes themselves or the set design or the casting or the cultural implication of a show, that the idea of spectacle is what remains.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I think the other thing that I thought about when looking at these shows was, honestly, how fortunate I was. And I think. I'm sure I speak for you guys, that we have been able to see so many of these incredible moments. And I just felt very appreciative of all that fashion has brought into my years here.

[Mark Guiducci]

Hear, hear.

[Virginia Smith]

Hear, hear.

[Chloe Mal]

Yeah. Amen.

[Virginia Smith]

All right, let's begin with the year 2000 on the subject of spectacle. The first show on our list is hussein Chalayan's fall 2000 show. And I was there. It was a rare trip to London for me, and it really sticks with me. The models at the end pulled slipcovers off of chairs and turned them into dresses, and one of them stepped into.

[Mark Guiducci]

The center of Natalia Semenova.

[Virginia Smith]

Yes. Very, very good recall. Mark stepped into the coffee table, and it accordioned up into a dress. And he was thinking about his mom. Right?

[Mark Guiducci]

Isn't that right? Yeah, it's autobiographical show. He's a Turkish Cypriot, and he grew up in Cyprus during an era of political violence. And so the show was inspired by asking his mother what she would take with her if she was forced to evacuate. And, of course, actually just rewatching the whole. The full show on YouTube this weekend, I was thinking about what people have been forced to choose to take with them as they evacuate the fires in Los Angeles. And it took a totally different resonance than when I've seen it. This show featured prominently in the Lightroom exhibition that Vogue has done in London. So I've seen this show many times, but it totally felt different this weekend, watching it and shows how a work of art can be poignant in different moments and mean different things in different contexts.

[Virginia Smith]

Also on the list is the Junia Watanabe show from fall 2000, and Laird. I know that's a favorite.

[Chloe Mal]

Yeah, I couldn't be happier to see it on the list. I mean, for personal reasons. Give me a neck ruff and I'm in heaven. But I think it speaks more seriously to the importance and necessity of craft and innovation. It's called Techno Couture because of the way that the honeycombs were made. And I can't understand the technical intricacies to explain them to you, but taking something that's recognizable, blowing it up, fantasizing it, but also they're very gentle. They're organic shapes that float around the body, sort of like you're being caressed by wings. They have a beautiful movement, but they're fantastic to look at. And so this combination of technology and craft, I think, is really beautiful. And I think, you know, I've written about. I think the manuscript Ex Machina exhibition at the Met takes on more importance as time goes on, because we are confronting how we're going to navigate this coming together of the hand and the machine.

[Virginia Smith]

Speeding through here a couple years later, Marc Jacobs did something at the time in spring 2001 that was pretty revolutionary in fashion. We hadn't been seeing a lot of designers invite to collaborate, and he asked his friend Stephen Sprouse to tag or graffiti in his signature style all over Vuitton's classic monogram. It became something that he did over and over again with other artists. Virginia, do you remember that show?

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I do remember that show, but I really remember those speedy bags with sprouts on them that we all wish we would have bought and kept over the years. They were so phenomenal. And, you know, you're right that Mark continued those collaborations throughout his career. And then I also remember a few years later, Sprouse doing a collaboration with Target that I think was one of the first designer collaborations that Target did. And I happened to go into a Target and see, you know, all the Stephen Sprouse stuff that was, you know, just incredible. But it really, you know, Mark's genius at sort of understanding, you know, what these partnerships could be.

[Chloe Mal]

And I think it was a beautiful New York and Paris moment because Stephen was, you know, representative, the best representative of downtown and the intersection of art and fashion. And also to do your own signature, or, you know, take your signature font and put it over a logo is pretty ballsy.

[Mark Guiducci]

Yeah. Mark said that he wanted to deface the monogram. That was the intention. And he thought graffiti would be the way to do it. And, you know, Mark is a giant, obviously, but to hear him talk about other designers or artists, he's so humble and so generous even when they're just starting out. He's so self effacing. And even though he was leading the flagship brand at the biggest fashion company in the world to give that kind of generosity that now we take for granted because everyone does collaborations, was a real transgressive step at the time. And I also think about that time too. Like, Mark has had so many eras in his personal appearance, and that moment was his kilt era. Mark's like the Madonna of Fashion. And that was the kilt moment.

[Virginia Smith]

I love when I see one of those pieces out in the wild now. They're so distinctive. The next show on the list is Dries van Noten's spring 2005 show. And it was a special anniversary for Dries, and he did something so spectacular. Virginia, will you tell what he did?

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I will. It was Drees 50th anniversary, and he had a candlelit dinner for 500 of his show attendees with 200 waiters, 250 waiters. Excuse me. So a waiter per every two persons. And after the show, and believe me, food and drink are not common in any fashion event, certainly on this level. And after the plates were cleared, the long table became a Runway to this incredible show. But what I will remember most about this show is that I was not there. It is the only Driesman Noten show I have missed in my over 20 years of being an editor at Vogue. I don't remember what in the world caused me to miss this show. It was pretty early on in my career. Clearly I did not have my priorities in order. And the next day, my colleague Hamish Bowles was telling me about this show, and literally, I was had tears in my eyes hearing about it. So I have never missed a Theresa Van Noten show since then.

[Virginia Smith]

And I was happy to see him on the list. And I think probably he made it on there because, of course, he retired last year. In spectacular Fashion, he did another sort of callback. He made a men's show, and the whole Runway was foiled in this silver leaf. And it actually reminded me of the first Dries Van Noten show that I went to years ago, almost 20 years earlier, when he did a gold leaf show. So he was so famous for incredible clothes and a print master, a mix master, but also a really good showman. He loved to put on a fun show.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Yeah, Dries is just an interesting mix because he's not someone who really wants to attract the attention to himself. Personally, I think he really lets his clothes speak for him. So it was really great to see him on this list because he has been so important to us as a designer. I think all designers have a real respect for him. There's a real generosity to Dries. And, you know, Nicole and I are both very big supporters and wear a lot of his clothes. So we were both very happy to see him on here.

[Virginia Smith]

Let's take a quick break, and we'll be back with more of the most impactful shows of the last quarter century, as selected by our Vogue App readers.

[Chamma Nadi]

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[Nicole Phelps]

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[Virginia Smith]

Runthrough okay, we're back. Next on the list is no surprise to any of us. It's Alexander McQueen, spring 2010. It was the third most voted by you, our readers on this list. And it was, sadly, McQueen's final Runway before he died. Mark, what do you remember about that?

[Mark Guiducci]

Well, I was revisiting Sarah Moore's review of that show and she wrote that Gaga, who premiered bad romance on that Runway, that Lady Gaga twittered, quote unquote to her, quote, 1 million followers. And I just, it was such a. I don't know, that line really stuck out to me because it showed how nascent social media was at the time. Now, of course, Gaga has more than 82 million followers on X. But this show had, it was, as you said, McQueen's last Runway show. And it was sort of an apotheosis of so many of his ideas that it had two. It was livestreamed and on show studio and actually crashed the livestream because of Gaga's tweet. There were two robotic arms with cameras covering the Runway that was reminiscent of the two robotic arms that had sprayed Shalom Harlow some years before. And it was a real feat of production design that was both a step forward, but also really classic McQueen. But the only thing more extraordinary than the production actually was the clothes themselves. When you look at the I implore all the listeners to go look at those dresses because there were these liquid patterns that McQueen used in that show that were supposed to reflect underwater. It was Plato's Atlantis. But we saw those patterns in other designers clothes throughout the 2000 and tens. I can think of three designers particularly that repeated very similar designs. And what a show to remember.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

It was also famously the debut of the armadillo shoe.

[Mark Guiducci]

Thank you.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Which I heard in Reading. I think Sarah mentioned it. Apparently several models backed out of that show at the last minute. They were so terrified of walking in that shoe. But no one apparently tripped down that down the Runway. They all made it.

[Virginia Smith]

But one of the best parts of this project was going back over our social media posts and seeing what the readers thought of these shows. And somebody said that even 14 years later, McQueen's Plato's Atlantis still feels like the future. Which I think it really does.

[Chloe Mal]

It does. And the prints are technical prints. I mean to design those, they're sort of like a mirror image. But again they also look like butterfly wings to some extent, which is something. So I think I'm like these days interested in this. Not only the hand and the machine, but also how nature and technology can mirror each other in a way.

[Mark Guiducci]

I mean I found myself looking when I looked at the pictures a few times and I found myself wondering if he knew that that was his last show.

[Virginia Smith]

All right, next on the list is Dolce and Gabbana and it's their first Alta Moda show. And Alta Moda for anybody who doesn't know means high fashion or high couture. And Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana do not show in Paris during the haute couture shows. What they started is quite unique to them but also super influential. They started inviting their top clients to Italy, different beautiful locations, summer after summer and putting on these really special shows for small groups of people. Famously they are all on WhatsApp while watching the show and placing orders as the looks go by. Maybe not right from the start. I don't know if WhatsApp existed when this first show happened. But it's like a self fulfilling prophecy. They buy clothes to wear to the, to the next automotive show. And I say it's influential because since before the pandemic there has now been this sort of industry policy where the top brands host these shows in one beautiful location after, after another. Has anybody had the privilege of going on one of those shows? Any memories?

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I was at the. Well, they did one in New York. Dolce and Gabbana did right at Lincoln Center. I believe, if I remember correctly, and I will say the Dolce and Gabbana clientele does not disappoint. I mean, those ladies are dressed. I have never in my life seen anything quite like that. And it was, it's remarkable. But I think Dolce, I mean, was really one of the. I feel like they were one of the first brands. I mean, obviously Chanel is right up there probably with them, but that really started paying a lot of attention to their best customers and really making events and experiences for them and taking them into major consideration. So as you say, this Altamoto event was the beginning of all that.

[Chloe Mal]

Yeah. Building on what you say, that's what all depress is. How do we work with our clients, how do we create? Experience is the sort of mantra of our time. And the other thing that is interesting is it's not a Mary Kate and Ashley, no photos, but because people can take and post photos, but we are not allowed to post the photos because the dresses, there's one, they're not doing it for outside sale. It's not the same kind of PR activity that a Runway is. It is really intro. I don't, I'm losing my word. But you know, it's an, it's a reflecting on itself kind of event.

[Virginia Smith]

I have to say it makes it hard for us to do research on these shows. So Dolce and Gabbana, if you're listening, maybe maybe let us have all those pictures next time. Okay, moving on. This is one that a lot of us really remember and love. Christian Dior Fall 2012 it was RAF Simmons debut.

[Mark Guiducci]

Yeah. In his review, Tim Blanks says the formal past, the streamlined future, meeting in the middle. You know, there were. When Raph took the reins at Christian Dior, he went into the archives, which is a phrase that we hear all the time when designers, new designers take over an old house. And that's just the. It's almost like you could have a series called going into the archives now, but at the time I think it was less done. And probably the first designer to have done that in a really spectacular way was Carl at Chanel. When he got there, he reinvented the codes, identified and then reinvented the codes of that house. And Raff did that as well at Dior. You know, this show was. You saw the peplum tops of the new look, but instead of the full bodied skirt, it was cigarette pants. And so he really nailed that past and present things. And I think everyone really loved those clothes. But the show itself was also just not to be forgotten. I think there were at least a million flowers in incorporated in the set design, which was each room was a different color. And so one room was completely floor to ceiling, immersively decorated in orchids, and another would be roses. And I just remember watching this show from afar, seeing how many designers came out to support Raft. People like Alaia and Albera, Baz and Marc Jacobs and Olivier Teiskens, Ricardo Tischy, Donatella Versace, and thinking, what must that room have smelled like? And of course, it's all documented in Frederick Chang's wonderful documentary Dior and I. But he didn't quite get the smell. Virginia, were you there?

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I wasn't. I wasn't that show, but loved it from afar. I mean, the cigarette pant with the sort of peplum ball gown is my idea of black tie. It was amazing.

[Chloe Mal]

Yes, please. For red carpet, we could use some modernization of the three silhouettes that seem to be acceptable.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Yeah, go back and look at that show.

[Virginia Smith]

Yeah, I was there. And I have to say that the energy of that room was truly unique. To see all of those designers, I sort of feel like at that moment in fashion, there wasn't all that much camaraderie between designers. I think I remember it as a time where, you know, we were focused on the competition between them. And I think now it's a much more common thing for us to see. To see designers at each other's shows. But at that moment, it felt really, really special to me. And the clothes. I, too, love the next show on the list also, no surprise. But it was hard for us to decide which Chanel show by Karl Lagerfeld to offer up for the choosing. We chose the Chanel supermarket, which is as pop fantastic as he got, I think.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I mean, it still, when you think about it, when you walked in and saw the Chanel supermarket, you just could not believe it. I mean, there was over 500 products that they had chanelized, and it was everything from a chainsaw with Chanel chains to doormats that had mademoiselle privee to potato chips. I mean, it was just unbelievable, the attention to detail. And that was before you saw one piece of clothing go down the Runway. It was just the scale and the attention to detail were completely overwhelming. When you walked into that environment, it was really, really something.

[Mark Guiducci]

My favorite was that even the for sale signs that you would see in a supermarket, Instead of saying 50% off, they said 50% extra. Like the, you know, of all of Carl's theatrical spectacles, this one had Maybe the most humor and the most irony, and it was just one big laugh to see from afar.

[Chloe Mal]

But also it didn't only capture the bodega selfie, but what you wear on a bodega run. Because I think Kara opened it in a probably cashmere tracksuit, you know, that was distressed. So it was, you know, he was so clever on picking up what people were doing on the street and not afraid of technology. Yeah.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

That's when he really went heavy into the Chanel trainer. Those poppy sneakers that were on pretty much every single look really became the must have shoe that season. So clever. He was so clever.

[Mark Guiducci]

I wonder if it was Carl's response to the response of the expansion of the luxury industry that what you might call the branding of everyday life, that in my mind, I imagine Carl had heard criticism that Chanel was doing not just couture anymore, but was doing everything, and that it was becoming a supermarket for rich people. And he thought, there's an idea.

[Chloe Mal]

That's brilliant, Mark. It also brings to mind Warhol and the representation of consumer and capitalist culture.

[Virginia Smith]

I will never forget all of the people at the show. We sort of rushed the shelves afterwards because I think everybody wanted like a souvenir and they had to put guards there to keep people from stealing stuff.

[Mark Guiducci]

Did you get anything?

[Virginia Smith]

No, because I was respectful and I didn't want to be that one person who walked away with something. But everybody wanted something.

[Mark Guiducci]

I bet on ebay we could find something from that show.

[Virginia Smith]

You're right. All right, moving on. This is another show that happened in Paris. It was Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen first, the row show in Paris, spring 2016. It was beautiful and it was held outdoors, I think outside of the city, maybe at a. At a Chateau Courance. Okay, you were there.

[Mark Guiducci]

No, I wasn't, but I've. I actually have been there, but I was not there that day. It's 45 minutes from. From Paris.

[Virginia Smith]

Okay. So they now show all the time in Paris. This was our first inkling, I suppose, that they were ambitious enough to take their. To take their brand to. To par. Compete on that stage. I mean, how do you read their departure?

[Mark Guiducci]

I think about it, you know, that show particularly, which I wasn't at, but it didn't work with the fashion schedule. There was a show like, you know, an hour before and an hour after. So if you wanted to go, you had to skip other important shows, which. So the editors were actually given a preview and the buyers were given the preview instead of most of them attending, which I think was maybe Purposeful that they like Dolce, which is a completely different aesthetic, like completely different kind of company for a different kind of woman, wanted to appeal to their customer and they put their values there. That their consumer was, you know, was ultimately who they wanted to give the experience to.

[Virginia Smith]

That's very astute.

[Chloe Mal]

I think it's also in sync with their. Their aloofness, if you could. They don't talk very much. They don't give interviews. You know, they prefer no phones. And it's like it. It seems just like they're very devoted to what they do and they want to do it in their way. They have a clear aesthetic. And so it's not about competition or overlap. It's like we are who we are and we're not looking around. I mean, they must have been aware.

[Mark Guiducci]

But the customer and control and maybe a little mystery.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I mean, I was sorry to lose them from New York, but I have to say what they've done in Paris is remarkable and just I have a huge amount of respect for their sort of their outlook on fashion. They do us proud as Americans in Paris every single season.

[Mark Guiducci]

It's so modern.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Yeah, it's really.

[Chloe Mal]

The rolification of fashion is a real thing. It's been so influential.

[Virginia Smith]

Moving on. Givenchy spring 2016. This was the moment when Ricardo brought the collection to New York. Virginia, what do you remember?

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Well, I have to say this is. If I had to list, probably this would be in definitely my top five shows I've ever seen. It's just all the elements came together for this one. And I remember it was being built on Pier 96, I think, which I could see from my apartment. And there was a lot of talk of rain coming in, a very substantial rain that night. So they had to finally make a decision on whether or not they were going to put a roof, include a roof or not. But they decided to go for it. And it was such a great.

[Mark Guiducci]

It was always the right decision.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Exactly. Because it was an incredible moment of fashion and art. His favorite artist, Marina Abramovic, was included in this and also a very poignant remembrance of the anniversary of 9 11. And it was just one of those magical moments in fashion where it all came together in a very sort of quiet, emotional way. And he also invited a lot of students to be just attend, which was obviously very generous of Ricardo. And for me, it was just a show I will never forget. I loved the beauty of that show.

[Chloe Mal]

And I'll never forget Maria Carla in the lingerie top and pants.

[Mark Guiducci]

It was his 10th year anniversary. And it had all the things that Ricardo's known for, like the face jewelry, the lingerie, the lace. It was the sneakers or the sneakerized heels. It was everything done to perfection. Yeah.

[Virginia Smith]

And his shows in Paris were always the show that you had to be at, and it was nice to have one of those in New York. So I was so happy to see this collection on the list. Christian Dior, Spring 2017. This was Maria Grazia's debut. And for the record, it was September of 2016 that this happened before the US election. And she had the famous now famous T shirt, we should all be Feminists, which is pulled from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's book or essay of that subject. And a slogan or a sentiment that is even more relevant today, I think, in the wake of another election.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

You know, what I remember most about this is the goodwill that you could feel in the room towards Maria Grazia and how much people were really supporting her in that role, which, you know, she is one of the few female creative directors at such a big company, and it was. You could just. You could just feel everyone wanting to support her in that room, and that was really great.

[Virginia Smith]

Moving on quickly. Louis Vuitton, spring 19. This was Virgil Abloh's debut. And talk about goodwill, right?

[Mark Guiducci]

Totally. That show took place in the garden of the Palais Royale. And there's something about that, that it was like almost like a coronation in a way, that show. That it was a bit like, you know, it was a show that was almost like a fait accompli, because, yes, it was a preview of what he was gonna do. We saw the harnesses, the childlike references that Virgil became known for, the vibrancy of the color palette. But the fact that that show was happening, that Virgil was the creative director of Louis Vuitton Men's. It was already a triumph before the first person walked down the Runway. And there was so much about it. Like the Runway was a yellow brick road. And, you know, the idea of a fantasy of Dorothy's Oz made manifest. And then each section was a different color. Each section of the audience was a different color of the rainbow. And everyone got a shirt of that color. I was in the orange section and still, you know, cherish that shirt. Benji B. Did the live music. He always had live music that Benji did. And so. But, you know. And I guess probably most crucially, there wasn't a white guy on the Runway until look 33, which was more than halfway through the show, which I think kind of said it All. But I also remember really poignantly that as Virgil was taking his bow down the Runway, Kanye stood up and gave him this enormous hug. And it was like the entire audience, I think, basically started crying in that moment because you realized the journey that they had been on together, that there was some. This was. There's some gossip in the press about whether there was competition, that Kanye wanted that job, et cetera. But the idea of these two men joining together and kind of like a joint mission that was accomplished in that moment was so it's still actually really poignant to think about.

[Virginia Smith]

Okay, we're going to take one more break and we'll be back with more shows in just a moment.

[Chamma Nadi]

I'm Nomi Frye.

[Chloe Mal]

I'm Vincent Cunningham.

[Virginia Smith]

I'm Alex Schwartz. And we are Critics at Large, a podcast from the New Yorker. Guys, what do we do on the show every week?

[Chloe Mal]

We look into the startling maw of our culture and try to figure something out.

[Virginia Smith]

That's right. We take something that's going on in the culture now. Maybe it's a movie, maybe it's a book. Maybe it's just kind of a trend that we see floating in the ether.

[Chamma Nadi]

And we expand it across culture as kind of a pattern or a template.

[Chloe Mal]

We talked about the midlife crisis starting with a new book by Miranda July, but then we kind of ended up talking about Dante's Inferno.

[Chamma Nadi]

You know, we talked about Kate Middleton, her so called disappearance. And from that we moved into right wing conspiracy theories.

[Chloe Mal]

Alex basically promised to explain to me why everybody likes the Beatles.

[Virginia Smith]

You know, we've also noticed that advice is everywhere. Advice columns, advice giving. And we kind of want look at why. Join us on Critics at Large from the New Yorker. New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, we're back. We could have put any Pierpaolo show for Valentino almost on the list. We chose spring 2019 couture because this is the one where he asked himself, what if Cecil Beaton's famous 1948 photograph of all those Charles James dresses that appeared in Vogue could have been with black women?

[Chloe Mal]

It was sublime. I wasn't there, but just, I mean, the infanta, the fuchsia rose, hooded. I mean, there were a million looks, but this was such a beautiful, inclusive idea. I think Piero Paolo was about creating a new community, redefining beauty and togetherness. He had to borrow your word, a generosity. He has a generosity of spirit. He has a sense of poetry. If you've ever read his Instagram post, I think Another thing that he gave fashion is he really brought a sense of elevation of people, but also of craft even to ready to wear. And people started talking about, you know, like, demi couture and really, you know, thinking about how they could make things, you know, as beautiful and fine as they could. But that show, in terms of color and concept, is pretty unbeatable.

[Virginia Smith]

Skipping around a bit, a show that I think we should mention is Moschino Spring 2020. This is smack dab in the middle of the lockdowns. And Jeremy Scott, very cleverly and creatively did a show all with marionettes. Does anybody remember seeing that from home from their computer screen?

[Chloe Mal]

But they weren't just marionettes. They were marionettes of specific people in the fashion industry in the audience and specific models wearing the clothes.

[Mark Guiducci]

And we have to remember that that was when we were having so much Covid content that there were video shows, you know, zoom conversations that we were just. I think all of us were tired of looking at things on our screen. And so to get something to cut through that and actually make you excited about fashion, even if it wasn't real ready to wear, it was. It was a representation of ready to wear was so clever and so smart and, you know, just something that should be obviously stuck with the reader that people remember that. Yeah.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I mean, he had so many shows that put a smile on your face, but this one was probably the smile when we needed it most.

[Virginia Smith]

Speaking of cutting through miu Miu, spring 2022, this is the collection where Mucha sliced the sweaters right underneath the bust and did these, you know, very, very brief miniskirts. And I think you could call it the, you know, the rebirth. It was the first season we were back after the pandemic at shows, and it woke up a generation, I think, to me, Mew right.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

I feel like I'm still seeing this collection from so many other people. I mean, it has been one of the most influential collections of recent years, I think. And it really, as you say, sort of started this incredible era of influence from Miu Miu.

[Mark Guiducci]

I forget which, whether it was a publication or an Instagram or who, but someone was keeping track of how many covers those Miu Miu skirts had. And it was more than a dozen in one season of people of magazines that were photographing that look.

[Chloe Mal]

And you needed a six pack to wear it.

[Mark Guiducci]

You didn't. You didn't. There were Curve girls wearing it. There were. And I think that actually that was interesting, too, to see. Remember, Paloma famously wore it on the COVID of id.

[Chloe Mal]

Oh, no, I missed that.

[Virginia Smith]

Here's a show that really surprised us. Victor and Rolf's spring 2023 couture. Victor and Rolf not being a household name. We were surprised to see it on the list. But I know, Laird, you were thrilled.

[Chloe Mal]

Well, I love Victor and Rolf. That's not my favorite Victor and Rolf show, but I was there, and it was crazy to see because the dresses were models wearing deconstructed dresses that were upside down, sideways. It was a reference to work those, like, Swiss cheese dresses that they had done before. It was very much more surreal and trying to think about this because it was really a surprise on the list. To me, it's really representative of the effect that Instagram has had on fashion. This is an Instagram moment. I tend to think of it not as much of a gimmick with them because they're so serious and because you can trace back the origins of these dresses. But people, it is a striking image. And I think I've observed our readers really like something that stands out. They like a big statement based, or at least at the moment, based on the most saved images on the site for the past few months.

[Virginia Smith]

All right, we're coming towards the end. Chemina Kamali's debut for Chloe made the list. She has a lot of goodwill behind her.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

She sure does. I mean, that was a very. That was a very, very sweet show. When her son came running out at the end of the Runway, I had a tear in my eye, but it was very, very. She just nailed the spirit of her Chloe girl from day one. And that doesn't happen that often, as we know. Very few people really get it right the first time out, you know, and she did, and it was pretty remarkable to see. And it was, you know, and since then, she's only really strengthened that idea so great for her.

[Chloe Mal]

And hr, Please look like some people belong at some houses. She has a history there. So instead of trying to make something happen, sometimes the organic kind of real fit. And this is an example of when it really works. It works.

[Mark Guiducci]

I went to a preview of that show with Anna the day before, and as we were leaving, they said, oh, Sienna Miller is here doing her fitting. You know, we didn't know that Sienna would be going to the show, but so we went and said, hi. And I remember thinking, huh, okay. Like, that's gonna be the thing. These clothes are made for Sienna. And then, of course, we saw what happened the next day.

[Virginia Smith]

All right, drum roll. We are down to number one. This is the show that Our readers voted on the most by a very wide margin. And it is Maison Margiela, John Galliano's final couture show for the house. No one's surprised that this is on here.

[Chloe Mal]

No. Mark, you wrote beautifully about it for the site.

[Mark Guiducci]

Thanks, Laird. I was lucky enough to be there. I was in Paris not to see shows. I was there for a shoot, and I actually, because the shoot was the next morning at like 6am and it was an evening show, I almost didn't go, and thank God I did. I wrote about how it was a narrative spectacle from Galliano that people. I'm 36, people that are my age, had kind of grown up in the 90s scene and fantasizing about and wanting to experience. And that wasn't really what fashion was doing at the time. But I think even more than just the show, just what it meant in culture is that it was really like a protest against quiet luxury, that that was what everyone had talked about, was doing, and it was like a cri de corps for creativity and individuality. And that really resonated even outside of fashion circles. You know, people in any creative industry. But even, like a layman knows that show and recognize.

[Virginia Smith]

Don't you have a funny story about your cab driver?

[Mark Guiducci]

So the trip, the shoot goes well. The next day, and I'm on my way home, and the cab driver asked me where I was coming from, and I said Paris. And he asked me about this show, my taxi driver. So talk about the impact of a show.

[Virginia Smith]

I can't think of another show that I can't either, cross boundaries like that.

[Chloe Mal]

No. He also took a year to make it again. This time, the pressure designers are under. And I love what you said, that it was sort of a Galliano show for your generation, because it was Margiela. It was a. A total marriage of Margiela and Galliano and what Galliano's best at, which is narrative, you know?

[Virginia Smith]

Well, thank you to all the Vogue app readers who contributed to this selection. We could have talked for hours longer about these shows, and the truth is we will be, because coming up on Thursday, we'll have part two of the top 25 collections of the 21st century. Except this time, it's the editor's choice. We'll be talking about some of our favorite. Thank you to Laird, Virginia, and Mark for joining me, and I'm excited to chat again for part two.

[Chloe Mal]

Thanks, Nicole.

[Laird Borelli Pearson]

Thanks, Nicole.

[Mark Guiducci]

Thanks, Nicole.

[Chamma Nadi]

The Run through is produced by Chelsea Daniel, Alex DePalma and Joanna Solotarov. It's engineered by Jake Lumen, Pran Bondi and James Yost. It is mixed by Mike Kutchman. Stephanie Karaoke is our executive producer and Chris Bannon is Conde Nast's head of Global Audio.

[Mark Guiducci]

From prx.