Fashion week has it all: supermodels, street style, new trends, and celebrities sitting pretty in the front row.
With such international attention on the four biggest events – New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week, and fashion shows from morning ’til night, it’s only natural that some weird and wonderful moments would be documented on camera.
From supermodels stumbling on the runway, to benches (Balenciaga) and lights collapsing (Diane Von Furstenberg), we’ve rounded up all of the most memorable fashion week moments of all time.
1. Naomi Campbell’s iconic fall
In 1993, one of the world’s top supermodels, Naomi Campbell, took a tumble in a huge pair of Vivienne Westwood heels at London Fashion Week. In true ‘super’ fashion, she flashed her huge smile and got on with the show.
2. A Zoolander inception
At Valentino’s 2015 Paris Fashion Week show, Blue Steele came to life with a catwalk cameo by Derek Zoolander and Hansel (AKA Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson).
3. Bella Hadid’s tumble
Bella Hadid reminded us all that she is actually human when she took a fall on the runway at the Michael Kors show during New York Fashion Week in 2016.
4. NSFW at PFW
Divert your eyes because at Rick Owen’s autumn/winter 2015 Paris Fashion Week show, models walked the runway with their genitalia on show.
5. Madonna’s finale
For Jean Paul Gaultier’s 1992 Paris Fashion Week show, Madonna walked the designer’s finale alongside him… topless.
6. ‘Hot Mugshot Guy’ becomes a model
Who can forget when convicted felon Jeremy Meeks went viral for his ridiculously good-looking mugshot? Quickly dubbed ‘Hot Mugshot Guy’, Meeks was given a modelling contract when he was released from jail and quickly went on to appear on the fashion week runway.
7. Yeezy Season 4
Remember when Kanye West held Yeezy Season 4 in a park and it was so hot that models fainted? Others were forced to take off faulty heels and walk the runway barefoot and take water from audience members after members of the Yeezy team didn’t come to their aid. Yikes.
8. Kate Moss’ cigarette
Kate Moss shocked everyone in 2011 when, on National No Smoking Day, she took to the Louis Vuitton runway smoking a cigarette. The point? Freedom of expression.
9. Lindsay Lohan’s foray into fashion
Lindsay Lohan’s brief stint as artistic advisor at Emanuel Ungaro resulted in heart-shaped glitter pasties on the brand’s spring/summer 2010 runway. Lohan’s swift exit from fashion followed but Emanuel Ungaro has never quite recovered.
10. A Kate Moss hologram
In the wake of Kate Moss’ cocaine scandal, longtime friend Alexander McQueen showed his support by creating a haunting hologram of the model for the finale of his 2006 show.
11. Fashion in the desert
Pierre Cardin transported guests to the Gobi Desert in China, using the dunes of Whistling Sand Mountain as a backdrop to showcase its spring/summer 2008 collection.
12. Karl Lagerfeld x the Great Wall of China
Nowadays, Karl Lagerfeld is famous for his over-the-top fashion show sets (think Chanel Casinos, rocketships and makeshift icebergs), but nothing beats Fendi in 2007 when Lagerfeld held a runway show on the Great Wall of China.
