The Sound Of Style

Shining the spotlight on the power of music and its transformative influence on the fashion runway and beyond.

- TAN SIOK HOON

Music and fashion are natural bedfellows that have been perpetually intertwined. Jazz is synonymous with the flapper mode of the ’20s as much as much as rock ‘n’ roll music and looks are banded together. And in the current zeitgeist, hip-hop and K-pop have etched out their own signature sounds and styles. At seasonal runway presentations, music plays a central role as fashion regulars know so well. Waiting for a show to start during fashion week can be an unpredictable affair, but as the first note of music wafts out, a blanket of silence immediately descends on the show space as the opening model strides out on cue.

With the exception for a mere handful of shows where music is non-existent—think Marc Jacobs F/W 2017 where models walked down a wooden runway in a bare set to an absence of music—the idea of that just seems incomplete. Together with the set design of show spaces, the runway soundtrack is just as instrumental in setting the scene for the collection, as Rene Arsenault stated, “[with fashion], music and clothes are your whole plot.” Arsenault along with other highly sought-after sound designers such as Michel Gaubert and Frédéric Sanchez, this elite unit is responsible for the music you hear at high-profile shows: Prada, Chanel, Miu Miu, Hermès, Versace, Emporio Armani, Jil Sander and others.