10 iconic shows of the ’90s forever gone: the half-naked Madonna in Jean Paul Gaultier and the fall of Naomi Campbell in Versace

The era of the 90s is called the era of supermodels, when grunge, shocking and minimalism simultaneously ruled. In this decade, Gucci has Tom Ford, Gianni Versace has the Big Six, and the whole world has the opportunity to watch all this fantastic extravagance.

The magic really happened at the shows – Alexander McQueen staged performances, Marc Jacobs broke the rules, and John Galliano sprinkled rose petals on everything. But about that later.

Today we decided to plunge into nostalgia for the 90s and recall the cult shows of that time that went down in history and changed the vector of interest of the fashion community.

Versace (1991)

Gianni Versace always knew how to attract the attention of the audience, but in 1991 he surpassed himself. Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington walked the runway during the Fall/Winter 1991 show. Embracing, they littered the runway, accompanying George Michael’s hit song Freedom. Iconic moment, as they say.

Jean Paul Gaultier (1992)

Jean Paul Gaultier and Madonna – “a union made in heaven.” He is the dreaded child of French fashion and the chief rebel of pop music. It was Gautier who created the famous cone bra for the singer – a bra with cone-shaped cups, with which she traveled almost the whole world as part of her Blonde Ambition tour. And in 1992, Madonna closed the Jean Paul Gaultier show and did it in her own way. Walking down the runway, she took off her jacket with a light movement of her hand and appeared before the audience in a bare-chested dress.

Perry Ellis (1993)

Let’s start the story with a spoiler – after this show, Marc Jacobs was fired from his role as creative director of the Perry Ellis brand. Despite the title of best designer of the year according to the CFDA. The reason lies in the collection itself. Rebel by nature, Jacobs dressed models in plaid flannel shirts, see-through dresses, rough boots, slit tops and leather vests, and played L7’s Pretend We’re Dead as background music. “Grunge is terrible,” said fashion critic Suzy Menkes after this show. However, as a result, the collection went down in history as one of the most underrated.

Vivienne Westwood (1993)

Vivienne Westwood’s Fall 1993 show made history with Naomi Campbell. Or, to be more precise, its downfall. Black Panther walked the runway in 23 cm heels, fell, smiled and continued on his way. And no, there were no scandals, on the contrary, some designers begged him to fall again, only this time on their show.

John Galliano (1994)

Remember Linda Evangelista’s iconic line, “I won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day”? So, in this show of John Galliano, she and other supermodels in the person of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Helena Christensen, Christy Turlington joined for free – as a friend. Yes, and a luxurious place – XVII. Century Rue Ferou mansion – got it completely by accident. All thanks to meeting the socialite Sao Schlumberger. John Galliano decorated the interior with flower petals, chandeliers and dry ice. Models walked proudly on the runway with images referring to traditional Japanese splendor, along with their period dresses.

Gucci (1995)

For Gucci, this Tom Ford collection was not a first, but under the slogan Sex sells loudly, it marked a turning point in the Italian brand’s history. Vogue critic Sarah Mauer then very accurately described everything that happened on the catwalk, describing the collection as the designer equivalent of sex with a stranger. The models walked the runway in satin blouses, skinny men’s pants, leather loafers and Brigitte Bardot hairstyles. It was then that Tom Ford managed to create an object of desire for thousands of fashionistas around the world from a “fading” brand.

Thierry Mugler (1995)

In 1995, Thierry Mugler organized his brand’s anniversary fashion show and rocked the entire fashion industry again. The 1995 fall/winter fashion show was held at the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris and lasted for an hour. And the designer’s main muses (from Patty Hurst to Eva Herzigova) gathered on the runway to showcase all the works of Mugler’s 20 years of work. The audience saw a female robot costume, a gold metal corset and, of course, a seashell dress (yes, rap diva Cardi B’s appearance at the Grammys in 2019).

Maison Martin Margiela (1996)

Martin Margiela’s brand has always been shrouded in mystery, and the designer himself emphasized anonymity. But during the demonstration of the 1996 spring-summer collection, aesthetics reached its peak – models walked along the wooden catwalk among half-empty wine bottles in cloth masks on their faces.

Helmut Lang (1998)

Online publications of fashion shows no longer surprise anyone, but 24 years ago it was nonsense. Now imagine the reaction of the fashion community when a designer decided to cancel a traditional New York show three days in advance and host it online at HelmutLangNY.com. Yes, it was controversial, but the show made history.

Alexander McQueen (1998)

Even if you’re far from the world of fashion, Alexander McQueen will host the SS99 show with the mysterious “No. You must have heard under the name “13”, or rather you have seen it on social networks. This, of course, is about the show’s finale, where former ballerina Shalom Harlow takes the runway in a white dress and two robots splash paint over her. It turned out to be an incredibly beautiful dance of art and technology. With this performance, Alexander McQueen marked a new era in fashion, which has since gone hand in hand with technology.