Today, we’re heading to the mysterious place that is backstage at the fashion show, where everything comes together – or falls apart – before the spectacle begins. To put it in movie terms, backstage is the film’s climax, where all of the most challenging and exciting things happen before models finally walk out wearing the designer’s latest creations. There’s a reason why shows don’t actually start on time (except for Marc Jacobs ), and that’s because despite the months of preparation that go into producing a fashion show, there are always last-minute things to attend to, from fixing a button or a zipper on a sample, to getting a model running late from another show (that also ran late) into hair and make-up.
Despite this utter chaos, some magical moments come from the frenzy. Take Kevin Tachman, Vogue ’s backstage photographer in the 2010s, who fell into the world of fashion almost by accident and in the process ended up witnessing historical fashion moments, like Zoolander ’s return to the runways at the Valentino autumn/winter 2015 show. Or consider our European photographer, Acielle Tanbetova , who has been present for some of the most significant debuts and goodbyes of the last decade, and has shot in so many of the wonders of the world she could almost call herself a travel photographer.
Most importantly, backstage is about telling a story. For our resident New York photographer Hunter Abrams, it’s about capturing not just first looks (that’s in.