What the Fashion Runway Can Teach Us About Brand Identity
The Designhouse team visited the Lightroom in King’s Cross recently for Vogue: Inventing the Runway. It’s an immersive exhibition tracing the fashion show from the intimate couture salons of the early 20th century to the era-defining spectacles of recent decades. Narrated by Cate Blanchett, it is a genuinely compelling piece of experiential storytelling. With incredible Vogue archive featuring designers from Chanel and Dior to Vivienne Westwood and Maison Margiela,
Fashion Show as Brand Statement
What struck us was how clearly the exhibition frames the runway as a communications medium. It’s not just a vehicle for clothes. The show is where a designer’s identity is made legible. It’s where values, references and audience are declared season after season. In that sense, it is not so different from the work we do. Designers of all disciplines struggle with the question of how to make tangible something that is abstract. The challenge is to embody a vision, a set of values, a sense of who you are and who you are for, to make it visible and felt by an audience.
Authenticity is Always In style
The figure who stayed with the team longest was Patrick Kelly.
Born in Mississippi in 1954, Kelly became the first American admitted to the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the governing body of the French ready-to-wear industry.
His runway shows looked genuinely fun. Models sashaying and twirling, turning the catwalk into a party. The majority of his models were Black at a time when that was far from the norm.
His signature playful buttons were a direct reference to his grandmother, who mended his family’s clothing with mismatched buttons from her sewing basket. That detail matters: a brand rooted so specifically in personal history, translated into a visual language that was immediately recognisable, joyful and subversive all at once.
Kelly was extremely proud of his roots and culture. He actively incorporated his own background into his practice. And he merged the celebration of Black identity with a contemporary aesthetic. He built a brand with genuine conviction behind it. One that communicated something real rather than simply competing for attention. It is a lesson that transfers well beyond fashion.
Designhouse has partnered with FTSE 250 companies and global enterprises for over 50 years, delivering strategic brand consultancy that creates measurable competitive advantage. If you’d like to discuss your brand challenges, we’d be glad to talk.
