In this introductory text, Christophe Kihm addresses the formal logic of the fashion show. The French term for fashion show, “défilé”, refers to a narrow pass in a mountain which people walked through in single file, as well as – by metonymy – the actual act of walking across the pass. Based on this, a “défilé” refers to time rather than space. However, through the construction of an image of this lapse of time to a specific rhythm, the “défilé” also produces its own space.

The recent climate change protests have affected the Fashion Weeks. The event in Stockholm was cancelled, while it was symbolically buried by the Extinction Rebellion activists in London. In other words, it may be time for fashion shows to turn a new page. Through four interviews with fashion designers Faustine Steinmetz, Emilie Meldem, Cosima Gadient (Ottolinger) and artist Marlie Mul, Aude Fellay reflects on the main criticisms as well as the undeniable benefits of this performative model, which concentrates and consumes plenty of energy. With her interlocutors, she evokes the power of the fashion show’s creative synthesis and speculates about the future of this presentation mode.

Invited by the Fashion Department to evoke the fashion show, artist and Visual Arts teacher Ambroise Tièche imagines a conversation that drifts from one thread to the next following a Geneva bus route.

For the first time, the Department of Interior Design has been commissioned to design the scenography of the fashion show for the Fashion Design graduates’ collections which will be held on 8 November 2019 at Le Cube on the school’s campus in Châtelaine. Several students submitted their projects. Ultimately, after a competition in several stages, Paulo Jorge Dias’ project Poésie was selected. The head of the workshop, Leonid Slonimskiy, discusses a selection of students’ works for this scenography as well as issues of space, narration and image associated with a fashion show in an age when cameras are ever-present.