Around the world there are various fashion shows and they are increasingly becoming more popular as society continues to be obsessed with fashion and the latest trends. However, despite the thousands of fashion shows happening every month in all different countries, there are a certain few that top the rest. From New York Fashion Week to Coco Chanel’s annual fashion event, there are so many unique yet perfectly great fashion shows that millions of people enjoy year in and out. We have composed a list of the top 10 most popular ones and have ranked them below in order from the best. All of the shows are beautiful in their own way and showcase some of the best pieces of fashion that the world has ever seen but this ranking is based off of the shows numbers, popularity and other surrounding factors.

The History of Fashion and Fashion Shows

Year after year there are thousands of fashion shows and events put on all over the globe by various designers showcasing their talents and skills for fashion designing. Two of the most influential fashion events are Paris and New York Fashion Week with others coming closely behind it. As well as trading and press events, designers will often put on their own runways every season to highlight the upcoming trends and what people will be able to get their hands on in the coming year or two.

In a typical fashion show, there are multiple models that walk the catwalk and are dressed in the clothing that is created by the specific designer. Lightening illuminates the runway in order to see the clothing pieces more clearly and there is normally a statement piece in every outfit which the designer wants to focus on so will thus try to focus this and centre it when they’re walking down the runway.

Historically, fashion shows have been around for centuries, French salons used to have ‘fashion parades’ in the early 1800’s to showcase their outfits and by the 1900’s, there were many American retailers that has started importing the concept of a fashion show with the first ever fashion show being held in 1903 in New York. Over the next 10 years, as the fashion industry started to boom, and more designers were making their own fashion brands, so many more fashion shows started to happen. By the 1920’s there were hundreds of US retailers holding fashion shows, mostly they followed a theme and would hold a narrative that interested people. Slowly, by the 1970s and early 1980s many American designers had started running and organising their own fashion shows by hiring out exhibition halls and fashion places so that the general public and press could attend and give their thoughts on the new designs ready for the coming season.

As technology has continued to improve, there have been more designers attempting to modernise the presentation of fashion show by adding digital backgrounds and music behind the models. Ralph Lauren used the catwalk at New York Fashion Week in 2014 to showcase his Spring collection through an underwater project that was filmed in Manhattan. Since they first start hundreds of years ago, fashion shows and events have really improved and changed for the better. There is no doubt that as time goes on they will only continue to improve, in terms of modelling and how designers utilise the catwalk with their clothes ans new pieces. Fashion shows are also often recorded at the time and shown later on television programmes or some are even made into documentaries which are broadcast to the world after being produced. Designer Tom Ford even created a music video with Lady Gaga for his 2016 collection which was an international hit with his fans and the musicians fans too.

A Historic Timeline of Fashion Shows

1800’s – Designers started to employ women to wear their designs and walk around press-covered events such as races, this allowed them to get noticed and photographed by the media and thus got the designers work out into the world and promoted for free.

1905 – More high-end designers start to employ in-house models and buy mannequins that display their clothes and present their elite designs. These models sometimes would provide their own private and informal shows that often-included models walking around the stores whilst customers looked around and drank tea.

1908/1910 – These fashion shows (also known as fashion parades at the time!) started becoming more popular and designers employed many models to showcase their designs.

1918 – There were 2 fixed fashion shows in Paris every year where foreign buyers could come and see the show and presentations.

1920 – Hundreds of retailers throughout the US hold fashion shows that are theatrical and have an organised theme in which the designs stick with. This increased the popularity of fashion shows even more.

1943 – The first ever New York Fashion Week was created by Eleanor Lambert who worked with various designers to revolutionise the fashion industry.

1947 – Christian Dior debuts his revolutionary corolle collection and this allows fashion shows to become a lot more serious with events becoming hosted in salons or small venues like hotels. Audiences become seated and were often crammed into small rooms with journalists and retail buyers staying near the front.

1970 – With a popular increase in the number of menswear boutiques, there is a rise in popularity and demand for male models as before this point, models were predominantly women who presented women’s pieces.

1973 – The first ever Paris Fashion Week is held and organised by Haute Couture.

1973 – Designer Kenzo presents a large-scale show that is on a stage rather than a runway putting emphasis on spectacle rather that the couture tradition.

1985 – There becomes a regularly broadcast of these ready-to-wear fashion shows that are on cable television which increased public awareness of catwalk shows and popularised models and their industry.

1990 – Modelling is now socially accepted as a profession and there are increasing amount of young people wanting to go into the industry.