Let’s summarize the musical results of the just-ended Paris Fashion Week and at the same time remember the best compositions in the history of the Olympic Games: there were many in past shows. In addition to the orchestral works, the collection will also include Gloria Gaynor’s beloved “I Will Survive” and Kraftwerk’s “Tour de France.”
Schiaparelli: Gloria Gaynor – “I Will Survive”, Vangelis – “Rachel’s Song”
The house’s fall-winter couture collection was named “Phoenix,” after founder Elsa Schiaparelli, who was often compared to a symbol of the renaissance. The same idea of renewal formed the basis of the musical accompaniment, the mixing of which was done by DJ and show producer Ben Brunnemer. The tracklist includes “Rachel’s Song” by Greek composer Vangelis, who was at the origins of the electronic movement in the 1960s. The song was written for Ridley Scott’s science fiction film Blade Runner and was nominated for a BAFTA and a Globe. Gold for Best Original Score in 1983. The show ended with Gloria Gaynor’s life-affirming “I Will Survive,” or rather, its acoustic version.
Dior: Philip Glass – “Glasses”
On the eve of the Paris Games, Maria Grazia Chiuri was inspired by the era of Ancient Greece: she showed the goddesses of Olympus in the collection and chose the work of the famous American composer Philip Glass “Vessels” as the soundtrack. In 1984 she was responsible for the music at the opening ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Games in Los Angeles. However, for the show the fashion house chose “Vessels”, written a year earlier for the experimental film “Koyaanisqatsi” by American director Godfrey Reggio. From the language of the Hopi Indians, the name translates as “crazy life on the verge of collapse that requires change.”
Thom Browne: Kraftwerk – Tour de France, John Williams – Olympic Games
The topic of sports competitions was not overlooked by the Thom Browne show, which is quite natural, since the main event of the year in Paris is only a month away. The show featured “Tour de France” from the tenth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk. The entire 2003 album (currently the last) was dedicated to the centenary of the Tour de France cycling race. At the end we heard “Olympic Games” by one of the most successful composers and film directors in history, John Williams. He composed music for four Olympic Games: three Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988) and Atlanta (1966) and one Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. For his first contest entry in 1985, Williams won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition.
Chanel: Goldfrapp – “Lovely Head”, Jessica Pratt – “Life is”
At that time, the Chanel team decided to stand out from the series of shows related to the upcoming Olympic Games and chose the Garnier Opera as the location and “Lovely Head” by the British group Goldfrapp for the soundtrack. In 2000, the song did not hit the charts, but a couple of years later an impressive list of films awaits in which it became the title song. Already in 2002, the single was heard in the film “Swept Away” by Guy Ritchie, in 2004, in the melodrama “My Summer of Love” by Pawel Pawlikowski and in 2007, in the comedy “99 Francs” by Jan Kunen. At the end of the show, the models came out to Jessica Pratt’s song “Life Is,” released earlier this year, from the album Here in the Pitch.
Armani Prive: Glenn Miller and his orchestra – “Moonlight Serenade”
In unison with the collection, whose main element was pearls, a symbol of purity and wisdom, the fashion house chose calm instrumental music. “Moonlight Serenade” was written by American arranger Glenn Miller in 1939. Both Edward Heyman and Mitchell Parish wrote poems for the composition, but it gained its greatest popularity two years later, following the release of H. Bruce Humberstone’s comedy Sun Valley Serenade. . Thanks to “Moonlight Serenade,” Miller was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, albeit 52 years after its release, in 1991.
