Fashion as theatre: Mark Montano, House of Diehl, House of Field, Miguel Andover, As Four, Diesel StyleLab and Betsey Johnson (right) showcase their spring–summer 2004 collections as performance art, writes Phillip D. Johnson

PHOTOGRAPHED BY RICHARD SPIEGEL, CHERYL GORSKI AND THE AUTHOR

MOST FASHION HISTORIANS will agree that fashion, on a whole, has always employed some form of theatrical elements throughout its much-storied existence. Although it had somewhat been a low-key affair up until the mid-1990s, Paris, through necessity, revved up its engine in 1945 and demonstrated why theatrical elements and the big gesture is sometimes necessary to achieve one’s goal.