KEY POINTS:
What's the most important aspect of a fashion show, apart from the clothes? The ultimate front-row? A bulging goodie bag? Making sure it starts on time?
No, no, no. Second only to the clothes, music is the vital ingredient A show could be held pretty much anywhere, but with no music? The horror!
Just as the music in a movie helps build the atmosphere of a scene, the music that plays during a show helps the audience better understand the collection. The songs chosen are another way for a designer to further the ethos of their label - so don't expect thrash metal at Trelise Cooper or pop tunes at Nom*D.
"Music really helps set the scene; it allows the audience to 'get' the collection that bit more," says Juliette Hogan who will show at Fashion Week for the third time on Tuesday afternoon. "It's like putting on a play - everything has to work with each other to make the scene as cohesive as possible, from props to lighting, hair, makeup, models, music and of course the clothes."
Chris Lorimer, who is producing nine shows this year including Jaeha, Deborah Sweeney and Annah Stretton, says music helps make a show memorable - including the show soundtrack and the songs that play before and after a show. Case in point: one of the best moments at last year's Fashion Week was after the Lonely Hearts' show, when Bros' When Will I Be Famous started playing.
But it's the soundtrack that plays once the lights dim that counts the most. For the audience, the music adds another element to the spectacle; and for the models, it helps shape the way they walk.
"It helps you get into character; it can also make you feel more confident," says model Samantha Shorter, who is set to walk in most of the key shows this year.
Choosing runway music is a fine art, and for most designers it's a collaborative effort. Karen Walker's design team come up with an extensive list of tracks that fit the mood of the collection, then sit with them for a while before deciding on the final few.
"The most important thing is to think of what you're doing as almost creating a soundtrack for a movie, and to really dig deep and have a very rich vocabulary to work with," says Walker, who presented her latest collection on the New York Fashion Week runway last week.
Steve Dunstan and his team at Huffer have been dumping tracks into a special computer file for the past couple of months, building a unique Huffer mixtape.
"As our concept gains more clarity we can apply the tracks that suit," says Dunstan.
It's a team effort also at Stolen Girlfriends Club.
"Throughout the design and sampling process, we're always listening to new music, searching for the songs that will best communicate the collection. I always find that driving around and listening to music in the car is a great way to choose music for the show. And film soundtracks are a great source too," says Stolen Girlfriend Club's Marc Moore (who incidentally is also one half of DJ duo People of Paris, with Dunstan).
For some designers, music plays an intrinsic part in their collection. "Music is an essential part of the personality of the collection and creates the mood of a show, it's as essential as casting the right looks and choosing the right environment," say Kate Sylvester.
The same goes for the girls at Twentysevennames, who are having their first solo Fashion Week show on Wednesday.
"We always have heaps of ideas for music. When we've finalised our designs, we come up with a list of tracks that could work, and we get heaps of help from friends and family," says Anjali Stewart. "Mainly we are looking for something with a wicked beat and lyrics that fit."
Live music is a unique way to add to the production, and has a rich tradition at Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Pluto played at Zambesi's show in 2005, Huffer had The Electric Confectionaires in 2006, and last year, Hailwood's show featured a live band at the start of the runway.
It's always a treat for the audience when a live band plays - imagine being at the Chanel's 2007 couture show, where Cat Power performed, or at Marc Jacobs' show in February and seeing Sonic Youth rock out to Kool Thing while models paraded his latest range. Fashion heaven.
One thing is for sure: our local designers are almost as passionate about their musical choices as they are about the collections they'll be presenting.
But it remains to be seen whether any of them will take this perfectionism to the same extreme as designer Yohji Yamamoto did at his Fall 2009 show: composing and playing all the songs himself.
MIXTAPE
We ask designers what to expect, musically speaking, from their shows...
Jaeha
Designer Alex Kim is sponsored by Red Bull this year, so they are helping him out with the music. "It's going to be more opulent than last year, classical merged with a bit of R&B. I think it's hot. Alexander Wang chose R&B for his show; it's such an unusual genre to pick for the catwalk but we're doing it," says Alex.
Deborah Sweeney
Her new collection is inspired by Kate Bush, so we're anticipating a Bush gem thrown in.
Juliette Hogan
Hogan featured music from indie band The National last year, but she says to expect something a little different this year. "The music has a jazzed-up classical feel - loads of trumpeting. It's meant to feel like an English tea party that's turned into an evening of debauchery."
Stolen Girlfriend's Club
The SGC crew won't give anything away when it comes to tracks, but Marc Moore does tell us that he's always wanted to use a song called Fade to Grey by Visage.
Twentysevennames
Last year the girls from Twentysevennames used tracks from Warren G and Black Sabbath, so we're looking forward to their soundtrack this year. They hadn't confirmed their song list when we spoke to them, but co-designer Anjali Stewart did tell us that they were thinking of using something by Notorious B.I.G.
Kate Sylvester
She may not be showing this year, but Sylvester is known for always choosing great songs. What would be her ultimate runway song? "I guess the ultimate show song for us was Nick Cave's Into my Arms that we used in our Stop your Sobbing collection. People actually cried, it was so beautiful. That's a pretty unique runway moment."
Huffer
Steve Dunstan's dream runway track? "If I could write music well, it would be something that I had made."
WIN FASHIONABLE MUSIC!
Loop have produced the official Air New Zealand Fashion Week soundtrack CD, featuring music from local talent including Charlie ASH, Audit, Dick Johnson, Minuit and more. The 12-track CD can't be bought - the only way to get it is to be a Fashion Week delegate or to win a copy. And lucky for you, we have five CDs to give away. To enter, write your name, address and phone number on an envelope and sent it to Loop Fashion Week CD Competition, Viva, NZ Herald, PO Box 3290, Auckland. Entries close September 24, winners announced October 1.
