Mr Alexandre de Betak’s tips for a show-stealing catwalk.

We’re on the brink of Paris Fashion Week, which, in non-industry speak, means a frenetic flocking of fashion types to the French capital to see what the likes of Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton have designed this season. It’s perhaps not at all clear why a room full of buyers, fashion editors and celebrities staring at models on a runway for 10 minutes is in any way relevant to the average person. But what happens at a major fashion show can directly influence what we find ourselves wearing six months down the line. More than that, in the 100 or so years since the fashion show was invented, it has become a blank canvas for some astonishing feats of creativity, a place where the best minds in the industry, from designers and stylists to hair, set and music people come together both to play and to innovate. The result? The modern fashion show can be spectacular. Some have even moved people to tears. From a marketing perspective at least, that’s no small feat, which is why, even in the immediacy-obsessed era of social media, brands continue to spend millions on these events each season.

Few men know the inner workings of these showcases better than Mr Alexandre de Betak. Through his production agency, Bureau Betak, this French producer, the so-called “wizard behind the runway”, has created some of the most astounding shows ever, for brands including Christian Dior, Berluti and Raf Simons. This month, his awe-inspiring work is being celebrated in a new book, Betak: Fashion Show Revolution. Below, we take a peek at the tome, and distil Mr de Betak’s expert tips on creating the ultimate fashion extravaganza.

Where a fashion show takes place plays an instrumental role in how it is perceived – and who will attend. But while a fabulous location can make or break a show, Mr de Betak’s take on the setting is deliberately counterintuitive. “What we do is the opposite of what is done in the movies,” he says. “In the movies, if they are telling a story about something in the 18th century, they will find an 18th-century palace. We, on the other hand, will look for something that presents the perfect juxtaposition. Maybe it’s a futuristic box in the middle of the Louvre, an atomic jungle of steel in the Forbidden City in China, or a mirrored cube in Red Square to refract the Kremlin. Each location is an instrument in helping express a different language to the viewer. Some venues may be places you would never have known existed. They can also be historical places previously untouched by the fashion world.”

When the perfect location has been chosen, it’s time to create a world within it. “The goal when we build a set is always to create something new,” says Mr de Betak. “Once again, it is the opposite of what they do in the movies. Instead of a literal interpretation of a certain time in history, we create sets that are emotional, intellectual, or maybe even something not of this world. They are interpretive… We’ve done sets built entirely of lights. We’ve used props like antiques, or an old car or a piece of a building. We’ve used nature. We’ve built turntables for the models to walk on. Whether over the top or minimal, sets are essential to memorable storytelling.”

What happens outside the walls of a fashion show venue can be just as important as inside. “Fashion shows often require building a 10,000sq ft tent in the middle of a city. I’m always annoyed and frustrated when those interruptions are done callously and a city’s inhabitants and visitors are prevented from enjoying the surroundings,” says Mr de Betak, whose ingenious solution for a Jil Sander show was to create a show space that interacted with the outside world as well. “I came up with the idea of a mirror box as an aesthetic, a nondisruptive device to investigate urban environments. It’s the opposite of the giant, white, plastic box. It reflects the beauty around you.”

As anyone who’s ever had their photo taken on one of those early 2000s digital cameras will know, lighting can make all the difference between a flattering photograph and one you’d rather burn. In a fashion show, where the people who can make or break a brand’s reputation are all watching, the importance of lighting is 10-fold. “Lighting is the hardest thing to express when we work with our designers,” says Mr de Betak. “We were always careful to light the Victoria’s Secret shows so that all that flesh never looked vulgar, but instead sensuous and healthy. With the right lighting, we could create goddesses. Of course, more important than anything else now is lighting for social media [although, thankfully] that’s actually not that hard because most phones have excellent cameras”.

Mr de Betak’s fashion shows have taken place in venues across the world, to the point where there are few boundaries left to push. So the producer is looking ambitiously to the final frontier. “When I’m asked what’s next for me to do, I always reply, isn’t it obvious?” he writes. “A fashion show in space. The future of fashion shows needs to be triggered by a revolutionary act and showing in space would surely be one. What’s next for Bureau Batek is breaking the fashion system rules until there are none. Then there is nothing left except the pure expression of the art of fashion and the art of fashion presentation. In the future of fashion, the two disciplines are truly one and the same.”

Betak: Fashion Show Revolution _(Phaidon) by Mr Alexandre de Betak and Ms Sally Singer is published on 22 September _

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