STORYTELLING AND ITS IMPACT ON PERCEPTION
Storytelling is a powerful tool, which transforms the runway into an immersive unforgettable experience. Once the audience is engaged in a story, the runway is no longer about just showing clothes – it’s about conveying a feeling, telling a narrative, immersing the viewer into the concept behind the collection. When it comes to the impact of storytelling on the perception of the fashion show, we can distinguish three categories – stimulating emotional engagement, providing context, and affirming brand identity.
Storytelling allows creative directors to use emotions as an instrument to invoke long lasting, memorable impact on the audience. One way to achieve this is by connecting the experience to a universal human feeling such as love, pride, joy, freedom, or nostalgia. Valentino’s 2019 Fall collection was very much centred about romance and love, and the centrepiece was a huge installation that read “The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive”, setting the theme for the show. This leads us to a second way to invoke emotions – though the atmosphere, and the use of music, lighting, and props. Versace’s Fall 1991 show became known as the show of freedom, the one blending the spirit of the 90s pop culture with fashion, as Gianni instructed the supermodels Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford to close the runway walking together singing George Michael’s Freedom! ’90 song. Another way to achieve such an impact is through tying the show to a character or an event, thus building a sense of escape or fantasy. Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2006 collection The Widows of Culloden conveyed an eerie, mystical feeling, as it commemorated the women who were widowed following the Battle of Culloden in 1746 and displayed McQueen’s tribute to his Scottish heritage. Overall, increasing the emotional engagement through storytelling generates memorability, creates ties with other art spheres, and transforms fashion into a powerful art.
The second function of storytelling is to provide context for the collection. This could be a way to showcase a historical or cultural background, the designer’s vision, or a social or political message. Dior’s Fall/Winter 2019-2020 collection was in collaboration with feminist artist Tomaso Binga, which created a different perception of the collection, gave a narration to the product. The show took place in the Rodin museum in Paris, and the set was a display of the artist’s Scrittura Vivente – an alphabet where all letters are made by the artist posing naked (a very poetic way to say “I mean, I signify, I say”). The runway honoured feminism and it wasn’t a coincidence that Maria Grazia Chuiri chose such an impactful artist to provide the context behind her vision.
The third function of storytelling is to affirm brand identity, to show what the brand stands for, what it’s signature style is. A very recent example is the SS25 fashion show by Dolce&Gabbana, where all the models wore Madonna-like wigs. Dolce&Gabbana are known for the sensual, charming, and powerful nature of their designs, and their most recent collection was no exception, as it used the character of Madonna to form a play on femininity and dynamics, to merge the past and the present. Madonna is an icon, and Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s creations give women the confidence to be bold and iconic just like her. Entitled Italian Beauty, the collection celebrated Madonna’s influence and captured the charm of Italian women. “This collection pays homage to an iconic and powerful female figure, immortalised by cinema through the decades, capable of asserting her personality while staying true to herself” is what the designers said about the collection, and there is no better way to express it than this.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
As we established, storytelling is a transformative tool in fashion shows, as it creates experiences, narratives, and generates positive, identity-related and even spiritual emotions, deepening audience connections. Since runways are typically not meant to provide utilitarian values, but rather access the hedonistic desire for meaningful experiences, the experiential factor generated by telling a story is key.
The first factor that is positively impacted by storytelling is the ability to persuade the audience – stories create experiences, and we make decisions based on cause and effect from our previous experiences. By using storytelling as a tool to influence the audience, it is possible to make the attendees think that the brand’s idea is theirs through emotional relations.
A brand is able to truly engage the audience beyond the aesthetics by utilising metaphors – an instrument that activates the part of the brain that controls the senses. According to Uri Hasson’s research from Princeton, a storyteller (the brand), and listener (the attendee) can synchronize their brain activity, particularly in the insula cortex – the part of our brain which helps us emotionally relate to experiences such as joy, inspiration, disgust, fear, and pain. This creates a “brain alignment” which makes the listener emotionally resonate with the story and experience it as if it were their own, thus connecting to the brand’s identity and making the show’s narrative more memorable and impactful. Additionally, when information is presented as a story rather than just facts, people are able to remember it 22 times better, meaning that not only will the attendee’s audience be captured, but the long-term memory retention of the runway’s visuals will be enhanced.
Beyond converting visual information into more profound understandings—tying the clothing to the artistic vision and incorporating it into the brand’s core identity—employing narratives has also been proven to have a positive quantifiable effect. Fashion brands who introduced storytelling into their strategy experienced a rise in conversion rates by around 30%. Lastly, after providing an emotionally stimulating experience, the attendees are more likely to become brand advocates. This form of word of mouth is particularly powerful because it combines both intrinsic motivations (such as feeling connected to the brand’s philosophy and artistic vision) and extrinsic motivations (such as creating meaningful relationships based on sharing thoughts and interpretations of the show’s symbolism), ultimately amplifying the brand’s reach and reputation through authentic reviews.
STORYTELLING IN THE RECENT RUNWAYS SHOWS
Storytelling was also not missing from recent runways, evident through show notes, subtle symbolism, and even unintentional moments turned into viral narratives.
As seen during Milan Fashion Week SS25, Bottega Veneta’s show was a perfect example of the impact of a strong storyline on the public’s perception of the collection and overall fashion show experience. By taking the audience through a life-spanning emotional narrative, Bottega Veneta’s Matthieu Blazy transformed fashion into more than just clothing—it became a vehicle for self-reflection, identity, and connection. The show took attendees on an emotional journey through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Oversized clothing symbolized a child’s curiosity in a time when “anything can happen, however fantastic, and we are not so bound by normal expectations and conventions”, stated the creative director, while leather and grunge aesthetics represented teenage angst and the transition to adulthood. Through this powerful connection between the art and the storyline, not only were the complexities of human existence brought to the attention of the viewers, but every individual was brought back in time, looking at their childhood through a mirror and reconnecting with the joy of dressing up as they once did in their parents’ oversized clothes. Thus, the collection managed to tell a relatable narrative about our everyday lives, presenting familiar characters such as the dad bringing his daughter to school with a pink backpack on his back, and challenging adults to give up the overly curated grown up sophistication for authentic playfulness.
A similar approach was adopted at the Coperni show during Paris Fashion Week SS25, where the collection was divided into three narrative sections, illustrating the evolution from childhood to adulthood as seen in beloved Disney films. This was done through symbols such as princesses, mermaids or villains, with opening looks embodying a sweet and nostalgic character leading up to the darker progression signalled by claps of thunder. What truly made this show stand out as a testament to the power of storytelling was the media awareness and commentaries surrounding Kylie Jenner’s appearance in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. This moment has been interpreted as a reference to fairytales, beauty standards, and the princess in a castle imagery as a critique of modern celebrity and perfectionism, proving that stories can be impactful even when not explicit. A symbol has value in itself by allowing the audience to speculate, become creative, and show their engagement by coming up with their own interpretation and ending to the story.
It is interesting, however, to also look at moments of unintentional storytelling and how these generated an impact on the show’s success. Although Anok Yai’s runway malfunction at the Vetements SS25 show during PFW was not taken into account when creating the storyline, the audience was captivated by this moment, turning a mistake into a narrative. Therefore, the model “decided to go from elegant to defiant bride, hoping the character switch would work” — and it did. The unplanned, symbolic moment quickly went viral on social media, sparking audience conversations about the “perfect mistake” that added artistic depth and inviting new interpretations of its meaning—reinforcing the power of storytelling to capture attention and drive engagement.
CONCLUSION
Storytelling, relying heavily on psychological theories and mechanisms, is therefore an important concept for brands in order to convey emotions, explain their designs and create a brand identity. It allows Fashion Houses to engage with their consumers and bring them into their universe to build stronger relationships, loyalty and has been increasingly used in the latest fashion shows.
Apart from the runaways, we could wonder about the impact of new technologies and social media on storytelling. If new technologies allow brands to create more immersive experiences and thus enhance storytelling, social media is also a powerful tool considering it enables brands to keep a constant link with customers and create a lasting and continuous “story” and image.
