From Alexander McQueen to Prada, the V&A Dundee’s latest exhibition dives deep into the history of the fashion show – and why the spectacle still matters.

When Fashion Month ends in mid-March, the comedown can be brutal. Across the industry, editors collectively exhale after the intercity marathon of back-to-back shows, racing between venues in pursuit of the season’s defining moments. But once the final look disappears backstage, the withdrawal symptoms quickly set in: the absence of that singular thrill that comes from witnessing, firsthand, the work of designers shaping contemporary fashion in real time. 

Unexpectedly, though, a small Scottish city is stepping in to fill the void. Known as the “City of Discovery”, Dundee is in the midst of a cultural renaissance, much of it orbiting around the V&A Dundee, which opened in 2018 as the museum’s only outpost outside London.

Its latest exhibition, Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show, opened to the public on 3rd April, tracing a century of runway history through an immersive exploration of fashion’s evolving spectacle – from intimate Parisian salon presentations in the early 20th century to today’s livestreamed, algorithm-friendly extravaganzas.

The exhibition charts seminal runway moments from fashion houses including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Maison Margiela, Prada and Yohji Yamamoto, alongside Scottish talents Christopher Kane, Nicholas Daley and Charles Jeffrey. But beyond the clothes themselves, the show also pulls focus onto the backstage ecosystem – the hairstylists, make-up artists, casting directors and countless unseen creatives responsible for transforming a designer’s vision into something cinematic.

The opening evening on 1st April drew a crowd of industry heavyweights and Scottish cultural figures alike, including designers Charles Jeffrey and Nicholas Daley, hair and beauty legends Sam McKnight and Val Garland, photographer Robert Fairer, as well as Trackie McLeod, Lucia Fairful and Eunice Olumide.

For Robert Fairer – whose backstage photography has documented fashion’s inner workings for more than three decades – the exhibition also serves as a reminder of the importance of physical imagery in an increasingly disposable digital age. Speaking to Wonderland, he reflected on the value of allowing fashion imagery to linger, rather than reducing it to something hurriedly thumbed past on a screen. Having photographed Alexander McQueen’s legendary 1999 collection No.13, he was especially excited to see pieces from that show included in the exhibition.

“[McQueen] once said that he found beauty in the darkest corners,” adds Val Garland, discussing how the exhibition’s location in Dundee resonates with her own experience of emerging from outside fashion’s traditional capitals. Her message to aspiring creatives is simple: graft relentlessly and trust your instincts.

“While the exhibition is a celebration of global fashion, as someone born in Scotland, it feels important to recognise the country’s contribution to fashion,” hairstylist Sam McKnight says. “Not just through the designers whose work we see on the runway, but through the vast network of creatives working behind the scenes.”

One of those Scottish designers returning home for the exhibition was Nicholas Daley, now firmly embedded within London’s creative landscape. He believes the exhibition will only accelerate the cultural momentum Dundee has built in recent years. Fellow Scot Charles Jeffrey, meanwhile, was particularly drawn to the room dedicated to 1920s fashion and the work of designers such as Paul Poiret and Dior.

“As someone who loves that era for its silhouettes and the way it was captured by photographers and illustrators, it’s a room I was excited to pore over in greater detail,” he says. For Jeffrey, the exhibition reinforces the importance of experiencing fashion in motion – not merely as content, but as performance.

Dundee may not instinctively register as one of fashion’s global capitals. Yet as summer approaches, and the urge to escape London’s concrete churn intensifies, the prospect of consuming fashion and culture somewhere less obvious suddenly feels far more alluring. Running from 3rd April until January 2027, Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show offers exactly that: a fashion pilgrimage for those still chasing the high of the runway long after Fashion Month has faded.

Words – Brian James