Movement Directors Are Turning Runway Shows Into Theater

When brands began holding fashion shows in Paris couture salons in the 1800s, their goal was simply to show clients what their clothing would look like on a real person, as opposed to a static, lifeless mannequin. Up until the late 1960s, models would quickly make their way up and down their designated runways, uniformly demonstrating the functional aspects of each design — by cinching a belt or unbuttoning a coat. Everything changed in the late 1980s, with the “Supers” and their signature moves entering the fashion sphere. Models would often strut together in sync, telling a story through clothing and movement and bringing new life to runway shows.

“I come from a time where fashion shows used to be 30 minutes,” Stephen Galloway, a creative movement director who has worked in fashion for more than 20 years, tells Fashionista. “[Shows] often had about 10 models who would go backstage and come back out [in a different look]. So models back in the day had to spend more time on the runway, and that’s where the personalities came out. Now, models have a very short period of time on the runway, and you have to figure out how the designer wants them to behave [during that time].”

Although these lively shows, with supermodels bringing personality and glamour to the runway, dominated fashion in the ’90s, the trend of performing beyond a spiritless stride dwindled. As the supermodel archetype became more celebrated in pop culture, some industry figures feared the spotlight would be redirected from the clothing to the now-famous women wearing them. Another thrown-around theory has to do with Linda Evangelista’s 1990 quote: “We won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.” While some people now find the sentence iconic, others at the time believed it to be entitled and snobby, supposedly turning off editors and designers from hiring the “Supers” as often.

By the late 2000s, runway theatrics had faded almost entirely. But in 2019, there were inklings of a resurgence, thanks to drama-infused shows from Christian Siriano, Brandon Maxwell, Christopher John Rogers and more, where models twirled and contorted down the runway. Social media, where video has only become more prominent, ate it up.

Fast forward to this year, and elaborately choreographed shows are part of the zeitgeist once again. Collina Strada’s recent Spring 2025 show opened with a stunt performer throwing themself onto the ground and doing flips across the aisle — a moment that quickly went viral within the online fashion community. In January, John Galliano’s Maison Margiela Artisanal Spring 2024 show captivated the industry, in part for its extraordinary storytelling achieved via chilling doll-like movement. This spurred a rush of press around the house’s movement director, bringing new attention to this usually-behind-the-scenes role.

As the pendulum has swung back toward theatricality, designers are embracing storylines, themes and performance more in their presentations, with models even interacting with the audience, stomping aggressively down the catwalk or making peculiar faces — all to help convey the story of that season’s collection. 

“I always say, to love fashion you have to understand fashion. And after that, you have to not only understand fashion but understand how the clothes work,” says Galloway.

Sometimes, in the lead-up to a fashion show, while a designer is focused on the collection itself, they task a movement director or choreographer with effectively communicating its message. Many of them come from a dance background (Galloway was a principal dancer in the Frankfurt Ballet from 1986 until 2004), but you shouldn’t conflate their work with that of a typical choreographer.

“Choreographing is creating the steps and piecing them together with the movement that you’re making, [whereas] movement direction can be choreographing, but you’re mostly guiding the model to help create what a designer is looking for,” explains Austin Goodwin, a New York-based movement director and Juilliard-trained dancer. “I am collaborating with [designers] to find a very specific feeling that the choreography and the movement are going to leave people with when they leave the show…[making sure] that it’s some sort of theatrical experience for people. Because in many ways, I feel like a fashion show is theater. You’re presenting something to an audience either way.”

Goodwin has most frequently worked with Jackson Wiederhoeft, whose eponymous label is known for putting on dramatic displays at New York Fashion Week each season. Since meeting in 2019, the two have collaborated on a number of themed shows, including a chilling “Night Terror at the Opera” at the immersive Le Mama theater for Spring 2024, a haunting smoke-filled runway with eerily slow movement for Fall 2024 and, most recently, a three-part theatrical experience featuring a standard runway casting plus 26 ensemble actors and seven dancers for Spring 2025.

After showgoers settled into a pitch-black Circle in the Square-like venue, a bride with palpable demons struggled through a sea of other dancers, setting the scene for the show. Organized into a standard catwalk route, each model walked with a specific intention. Soundtracked by choppy, heart-rate-increasing 808s, they moved slowly with their arms stiff, gazes icy and hips swaying ever so slightly, illustrating clearly the uneasy and intense nature of the collection.

Though modeling is a skill in its own right, those who pursue it as a career are not required to go through the same breadth of training as an actor or dancer. So teaching models how to tell someone else’s story with their body instead of defaulting to their usual walk can be a challenge.

“The idea of movement or choreography can be so intimidating, but I really do believe that anybody can dance, anybody can move,” says Goodwin. “There’s a certain level of imagination that it requires. I just try to work that out of a model as much as I can.”

View the original article to see embedded media.

Marcella Guarino Hymowitz, the movement director behind LoveShackFancy‘s events and a former professional dancer, has a more straightforward approach to her choreography: “Instead of giving models a personality to become, I give them an actual movement. I’ll say, ‘Turn your right shoulder back, switch lines, step, pivot.’ Most of them got it, but I did realize that it was harder for some than others.”

For its Fall 2024 show, LoveShackFancy took over nightclub The Box for a “Bowquette Burlesque” starring can-can dancers, drag queens and, of course, models. “These models are told to do a serious walk and go into castings with straight faces and they think that’s what everyone wants,” says Hymowitz.

For Spring 2025, the brand set up a tea party-themed runway in its showroom, where ballerinas and models interacted with the audience and flaunted their looks as if they were their own. “We don’t want to be too big with our movements, but we want to make [people watching] feel like there’s somebody inside, that they’re a human who loves wearing these clothes,” explains Hymowitz. “Making that connection was really special in this space. It’s such an intimate vibe but we made it come alive.”

View the original article to see embedded media.

Whether through distant storytelling, theatrics or casual interaction, movement directors are tasked not only with simple choreography, but also with building that relationship between everyone in the room. “Someone once called me a social mathematician,” says Galloway. “You have to be able to read a room. You have to be able to assess where a person’s strengths and weaknesses are in terms of how you’re going to be able to communicate what the show is about. It’s a very live thing and I really love it.”

That said, making sure the work doesn’t overpower the clothes is of the utmost importance — after all, it’s still a fashion show.

“If [something] is going to distract or take away from seeing the beauty of what Jackson has made, then I’m going to pare it back. I encourage the dancers to have a certain flexibility on the day of, because oftentimes there are changes or things I may have to add three hours before the show,” Goodwin shares. “It’s a very delicate balance because [these shows] are so much work for so many different teams…and it goes by so fast that having that malleability is the only way that I can hope to prevent any sort of distracting from happening.”

Galloway feels similarly, requesting to be brought in early on projects to allow ample time for any revisions. “I like to be there for fittings, so you actually get a feeling of how the models see or feel themselves in the clothes immediately. Sometimes that gives a lot of the information,” he says. “It’s really about helping [the models] and giving them these secret stories that only they know…then when I see the shows, it’s nice for me to see that they’re actually creating this world for themselves.”

This world-building skill that movement directors have introduced has not only changed how models behave on the runway, but it has also helped to redefine the fashion show and the impact one can have on an audience. Of course, these presentations will always first and foremost be about the clothes, but designs often have a larger story behind them than what’s instantly visible.

“There’s a lot of value in how movement can enhance or reveal something about the brand. It’s exciting that there’s a level of theatrical elements that are being brought into consideration,” says Goodwin. “I would hope that it leaves people with an experience they can carry for a long time. Something people can look back on and say, ‘I loved the clothes, but I’m so glad I was there to experience it instead of just seeing the photos.'”

Hymowitz is on the same page: “It makes a big difference when you create an experience that people remember. We’re just trying to make people walk away with a smile on their faces, want to wear those clothes, want to be the models, want to be the performers in the show. We want them to feel like, ‘I cannot wait to wear that and feel that again.'”

As much as everyone agrees on how integral that “feeling” is to the success of a runway show, it isn’t exactly easy to describe with words — Galloway borrows a phrase from a recent client. “I was working with Miley Cyrus on a project and she said to me, ‘Stephen, we just make everything better.’ And I thought that was really sweet. That’s what we try to do. We want to make it better. [As people in the performing arts], we are there to make it work…no matter what,” he says.

“When you’re trying to explain magic, it’s weird because it’s not the words. It’s very human. It’s very intense and exciting and fun and frivolous and hilarious and silly sometimes. And it’s hard to describe because it’s about the people…When we’re able to work with incredible designers, set designers and artists, it makes the magic [be felt] even more.”

Never miss the latest fashion industry news. Sign up for the Fashionista daily newsletter.

Source: Fashionista.com